JF-17/FC-1 Fighter Aircraft thread

S

Scratch

Captain
MastanKhan said:
And that is why when I commented on the J10 thread about integration---about J10A---then J10B---and then J10C----in such short time---and that was a concern about how the pilots could catch on so fast----most senior posters brushed it aside--
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I would even say the pilots aren't the biggest concern here. The flying characteristics should be broadly the same. So far they've all got the same engines. So operating limits and procedures will also be comparable. The new sensors will not exactly provide a wide array of new functions, they'll rather be better at doing them (concurrently). But that's on the technical side, with which the pilot as an operator isn't too concerned. For him/her, the biggest thing is software & "switcheology", what buttons and knobs to push when. If the designers / engeniers did a bit of thinking, that hasn't changed so much.

I guess it is much more of an issue for the technicians, who have a whole set of new hardware in front of them. And probably also logistics. You need to adjust your procedures for handling, storing, maintanance, testing and what else.
Introducing a new type goes far beyond the operator in the pilot seat.
 
Ultra

Ultra

Junior Member
Domino said:
New Zealand ultimately purchased the F-16s on a 10-year lease-purchase deal that totaled $105 million.)
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Actually, New Zealand never purchase those F-16s. In fact, they basically scrapped their airforce 2 years after that talk about buying F-16s. All the fighter squadrons were disbanded with only airlift / transportation squadrons remained..
 
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Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Ultra said:
Actually, New Zealand never purchase those F-16s. In fact, they basically scrapped their airforce 2 years after that talk about buying F-16s. All the fighter squadrons were disbanded with only airlift / transportation squadrons remained..
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For those interested, here's the full history of the New Zealand F-16 deal that never happened:

In December 1998, the New Zealand Government announced that it would lease-buy 28 Pakistani F-16s which have been in storage at Pakistan's Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, also known as the Bone yard in the US. The F-16s were going to replace New Zealand's 19 aging, subsonic A-4K Skyhawk strike planes. The aircraft were thoroughly inspected an found to be in mint condition.

New Zealand's minority government claimed it would experience huge savings by leasing those F-16s. The 10-year lease for the F-16A/B block 15OCU fighters would have cost about NZ$200 million ($105 million US). The lease would have saved NZ$431 million over the cost of buying new aircraft. The government opted to acquire the F-16s under a lease-buy deal, with payments spread over 10 years and delivery starting in 30 months.

But, in 2002 the newly elected New Zealand government decided to abandon the plans to acquie Pakistani F-16s to replace its A-4K aircraft. In fact, the new govermnet decided that an air combat force was not in line with its policies or New Zeland's interests...so it disbanded the New Zealand Air Combat force entirely.

As I understand it, if the aircraft had been delivered, the 75th Squadron at Ohakea and the No. 2 Squadron at Nowra would have operates them. As it was, Ultra is compltely correct. It never happened and New Zeland got rid of all of its combat aircraft after the 2002 election.
 
plawolf

plawolf

Lieutenant General
I always thought India was way out of line making the kinds of threats it did to Sri Lanka over something that India had absolutely no business to try and interfere in.

India often suffers from an over inflated opinion of itself and its power, and it looks like the case here.

It picked a fight over an issue which they have no business making an issue over, and simply lack the diplomatic soft power or military hard power to follow through on.

No one likes being bullied and intimidated, and this Indian gambit has backfired badly, as it's not just this one small defense deal it has lost, but the goodwill of the Sri Lankan government and people as well.
 
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