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Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.
40hz:
^No...the Russians wouldn't just hand him over. But they said nothing about not selling him back. :-\
wraith808:
^No...the Russians wouldn't just hand him over. But they said nothing about not selling him back. :-\
-40hz (July 26, 2013, 01:42 PM)
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From the moment his plane went through Russia and they found out about it, he was their currency to spend in any case. :-\
Renegade:
^No...the Russians wouldn't just hand him over. But they said nothing about not selling him back. :-\
-40hz (July 26, 2013, 01:42 PM)
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They're going to have to throw in something else if they aim to trade for Syria. :P
Tinman57:
I remember they described an SU (IIRC) fighter that could hover while oriented vertically, fall backwards then fly upside down. (I don't recall the model number or if they'd mentioned it.) Kind of like this:
1)
------>
2)
stop, hover & flip
3)
<------
They'd seen it in defense videos and claimed that there wasn't anything in the west that approached the maneuverability of that particular jet.
-Renegade (July 24, 2013, 08:59 PM)
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http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/su-37.htm
-wraith808 (July 25, 2013, 08:53 PM)
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Last I heard the SU37 wasn't even in production. Either way, they're trying to play "catch-up" with the F22, F23 and the Joint Task Fighter, which not only have vectoring thrust, but are also stealthy. The F35 JTF also comes in a V-STOL model that can take off and land like a helicopter.
Tinman57:
you'd want the most advanced Russian aircraft in a dogfight.
-wraith808 (July 24, 2013, 09:45 PM)
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Speed has its place in air combat. But most of the consensus on modern air warfare has pretty much relegated dogfighting to the dustbin of military history. As was noted, when it comes to modern long-range weaponry and satellite/ground coordinated tac-intel and support, being fastest no longer matters. Having the best "eyes," being the stealthiest, and having the longest striking range will outweigh raw speed every time. The original stealth fighter (the F117 Nighthawk) was only capable, by design, of subsonic flight. And it didn't much matter. [Note: According to official reports, in the thousands of combat operations conducted between 1984 and the Nighthawk's retirement in early 1992, there has only been one incident where of an F117 was shot down, and a (disputed) second incident where an F117 was seriously damaged by enemy fire.] -40hz (July 25, 2013, 09:15 PM)
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Dogfights were never flown at high speeds, usually only 200 to 400 knots. The faster your going, the wider your turns are, and in dog fighting you need really fast turns. But your right about how everything is computerized in combat now.
The F117 wasn't retired until 2008, I left the F117 Skunkworks in 1995. The F117 could fly Mach I, but when it reaches Mach the radar absorbing material (RAM) starts peeling off, rendering it less stealthy. So it was restricted to speeds under Mach and 4 G's maximum.
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