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I will say was very sad seeing Val Kilmer having been reduced to such a shell of the man he was in the original film. The cancer has really done a number on him :(

I was being sarcastic :)

What is causing the suicides? I can understand that with the Army and Marines when in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Navy...?

"Screen presence," i.e. looks far cooler and more commanding. The Rhino may be superior but it just doesn't have the commanding presence, IMO. As for upgrading the F-14, that kind of depends on what one means. The Rhino is almost a different aircraft altogether from the original F/A-18, and...

It's an antique, but it still has far more screen presence than the F/A-18 IMO. Also, they could have given it new engines, avionics, etc...no reason it couldn't have modern variants of all those things. My (albeit amateur) understanding of why they retired it is because it was a maintenance hog...

Just curious, but what do you mean about the last few months?

They actually were arguing that Paramount needs to pull the film from the theaters until everything gets sorted out. Paramount said no way.

So I just saw it. I see the Navy, or at least Top Gun, screens for good looks in addition to skillset for its pilots.

So many acronyms you guys use?

I didn't know America wasn't still a superpower.

I would say we did contribute to the breakup of the Soviet Union, but we were not the sole cause.

IMO the main thing that shocked the Russians into a paranoia was the German invasion in WWII. The level of violence conducted was so great that they gained a permanent distrust of the West. That said, they also have an inherent aggression and thus the idea that the former Soviet and Warsaw Pact...

A lot of our current discord is just due to Covid and the extreme political correctness that has developed (IMO) which causes the Left to act completely paranoid and even violent over Republican presidents. Covid of course caused strife, then all the money they injected into the economy to make...

The F-14 is the coolest-looking fighter plane in history.

I posted it because I know certain people here are space enthusiasts, and also it's a forum of pilots, usually thought of as an adventuresome bunch who might be interested in such things.

So a few days ago the Event Horizon Telescope released a new black hole image, this time of the one at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A. The first one was a ginormous black hole 55 million light years away called M87, at the center of the galaxy Mercier 87. Here are their pictures: M87...

IMO there is a level beyond which the rhetoric should not go, but at the same time, the West needs to show strength and fearlessness as well. That is what checks aggression and the Chinese, Iranians, and North Koreans are watching.

Apparently, a third Russian ship has been sunk, Russia's top tank ace killed, various Russian military plants are having to shut down due to the sanctions, as so much of their equipment and componentry is foreign (lots of electronics from Taiwan for example, lots of stuff imported from Ukraine...

I think the Russian forces will get their butts handed to them if they come up against NATO forces.

I don't know if it is a just a funny coincidence or one of those things with how the algorithms monitor you these days, but I came to this thread and after reading it, started browsing books on Amazon and stumbled across this: Brian the Brain

Any way for me to access that thread or is it in a private area now? (I have no access to it)

Well on the bright side for the Russian military, promotions are up.

Yikes, had made my last post then disappeared for a week due to work. Apparently dropped a nuke. Okay, those being critical, I should have been more careful there. I presumed the Reuter's article was correct, however upon some further reading, Zelensky himself is going with the claim, so either...

Have read Russia has forcibly transferred 500,000 Ukrainians into Russia. Those people may never be able to see their families or homeland again. Talk about a nightmare to be living through. They will probably be sent to Siberia to be slaves and the women into sex trafficking. Many children...

My long-term goal is to become a wealthy entrepreneur. If successful enough, I will buy my own plane/planes. I would love to have a biplane as I've heard it's a great way to fly, not that high up and with an open cockpit, cruising along at like 40 mph, sort of like a country drive but in the air...

Definitely. There has been a lot written about fixing issues in the Defense Industrial Base. National security-critical technologies, we want to try to have most of the components made, if not in the U.S., than in friendly countries, with most of the raw materials for them again sourced from...

Just curious, what branch did you join?

FWIW, the U.S. actually is still one of the top manufacturing nations in the world, coming in at #2 behind China in a country-to-country comparison and number three if one considers the European Union as a single entity. The U.S. accounts for around 16-18% of global manufacturing...

Somewhat related ,but all this about how dictatorships create such poor militaries would explain why in Star Wars, the Empire has such comically inept soldiers and ship commanders:)

The environmentalists say pipelines are bad for the environment because they can spring leaks and anyway renewable energy is where the jobs are. Jen Psaki said so.

Why is this bad though? Sorry for my lack of understanding, I just don't get how that hurts the functioning of such a navy.

You mean Royal Navy is becoming more strictly about defense of Britain/UK?

According to the article that Flash posted, the Royal Navy reduced their personnel numbers while increasing their training, whereas the U.S. SWO community reduced their training to maintain personnel. So wouldn't the Royal Navy be following the "super-unit" model then and the U.S. the "moderate...

Interesting! But I am curious, why would the SWO community not have standardized training if the aviators and submariners do?

The U.S. Navy isn't as rigorous regarding SWO's?

I see, that's actually quite fascinating, thanks.

It didn't sink, it was promoted to submarine :) Seriously though, I had to Google all those acronyms, but they led me to two questions? CO's in Western navies must have experience in DCFP? And if so, why wouldn't Soviet/Russian CO's require it?

Shame too, as the country has historically been a source of a lot of brainpower. For example, I believe one of SpaceX's rockets is based on a Cold War Russian design. One of the preeminent gear theorists (designs of mechanical gears, which are very complicated) was a Soviet Russian (Faydor...

Putin receiving the news:

IMO that wouldn't work, because then Putin/Russia could threaten nuclear combat all the way to the Atlantic coast of Europe. It sounds contradictory perhaps, but basically there has to be the perception by the enemy of some willingness to engage, if necessary, in nuclear war, in order to prevent...

Disagree here. Allowing him to save face will show weakness and just allow him to play the long game and then try again at some point. I do not believe the West would treat them like pariahs for long. Look at Europe's eagerness to trade with Iran or turn a blind eye to China. Give it some time...

Regarding Ukraine, I'd say we actually do have a responsibility to try and protect Ukraine. The reason is because control of Ukraine is key to a stronger Russia and serving as a basing point to then try and take the Baltics and further expand the Russian empire at a future date. So it's a...

I don't think that concern is rational and think that any such strategy would only lead to further aggression in the future.

How is the West being in any way irrational right now? How is Putin being irrational? He is just trying to save face, otherwise his invasion of Ukraine seemed very rational to me, based on what he "thought" were his military's capabilities and what he "thought" would be the response from the...

Maybe I should have written my point better, but I mean it seems silly to me to consider acts such as sending some old jets to Ukraine as escalatory, as opposed to directly attacking Russian military. Fearing "escalation" over such an act, IMO, is giving the Russians a pass to not worry much...

I don't get this concept of "too escalatory" regarding such weaponry. That just sounds like weakness to me. "Escalation" is one of the primary ways you get the enemy to stop. I could see not sending heavy weapons at the start of the invasion due to the belief that they could fall into the hands...

Very quick side note, Bruce Willis is having to retire now due to serious mental decline from a condition called aphasia. He's unable to remember lines and they've had to severely shorten his involvement in the films he's done to date.

Kaliningrad is not historical Russia territory, it was a German city made Russian by Stalin. So while it may be Russian territory, it's not the exact same thing as attacking the historical Russian homeland. And Putin would be risking it by attacking NATO. Thus, while legally taking Kaliningrad...

I think your own view seems kind of black and white. You say about NATO going to war with Russia but if Russia attacks a NATO nation and NATO then fights back, then I'd say Russia is going to war with NATO, not the other way around. I say your view seems to be black and white because your...

I think Ukraine actually would like to be part of NATO, they just don't see it as a realistic option right now.