What is with the special landing pad in the third photo?
It replaces the RAST trap. Same idea to secure to the deck before chock and chains.
What is with the special landing pad in the third photo?
So FireScout doesn't have RAST? Interesting. I'm curious how they worked out landing in rough, disorganized seas.
So FireScout doesn't have RAST? Interesting. I'm curious how they worked out landing in rough, disorganized seas.
Some of us manage to land helos without a RAST. The horror!
The percentage of Air Force pilots being trained to fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles now exceeds fighters and bombers combined according to the Air Force Times.
Not one but two of the high-level bad guys taken out... one by the U.S. and one in a power struggle to take his place.
Clicky
I read a story last night in the WSJ headlined: "U.S. Drone Kills Chief of Taliban in Pakistan" (see below). This story, combined with a lot of press recently about the use and effectiveness of UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan, got me thinking about the future of manned combat aviation, at least in the U.S., since we seem to be on the forefront of this.
Just wondering what some of the folks' thoughts on here regarding this "revolution" are: how fast will UAVs be the standard for CAS missions; how soon until the last American fighter pilot flies; is the F-35 the last manned American aircraft, as Sec. Robert Gates says.
I know the Navy's X-47B is next up to bat. Personally, I find this all to be a bit of buzzkill; makes me think I'm just romanticizing an old-fashioned, soon to-be outdated job, the military equivalent of floor-based, open-outcry trading. Then I think about mission vs. platform, and what is best at helping the soldiers on the ground and on the frontlines. If UAVs are better able to assist them, then I think that's the only question that really matters.
Air-to-air is another story, but something even I doubt we will ever be faced with again.