Strategy Page

choi

(1) Screw The F-35. Oct 19, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20121019.aspx

"Many air forces are finding that it’s more cost-effective to upgrade via new electronics and missiles and, as needed, refurbishing engines and airframes on elderly existing fighters, rather than buying new aircraft. This is especially the case if the new electronics enable the use of smart bombs. One of the more frequently upgraded older fighters is the American F-16. Even the US Air Force, the first and still largest user of F-16s is doing this with some of its F-16s. The US Air Force is currently refurbishing several hundred of its 22 ton F-16 fighters because their replacement, the 31 ton F-35 is not arriving in time.

"The F-16C was originally designed for a service life of 4,000 hours in the air. But advances in engineering, materials, and maintenance techniques have extended that to over 8,000 hours. * * * The current planned SLEP [Service Life Extension Program] will extend F-16C flight hours to 10,000 or more.

"The F-16 is the most numerous post-Cold War jet fighter, with over 4,200 built and still in production. During The Cold War Russia built over 10,000 MiG-21s and the US over 5,000 F-4s, but since then warplane production has plummeted about 90 percent.

"In air-to-air combat F-16s have shot down 69 aircraft so far, without losing anything to enemy warplanes. Not bad for an aircraft that was originally designed as a cheaper alternative to the heavier F-15.

"Finally, the upgrade is a lot cheaper, costing less than $20 million, compared to over $100 million for a new F-35. If your potential enemies aren’t upgrading to something like that, a refurbed F-16 will do.

Note:
(a) McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II
(Introduction 1960; Status Active as of 2012)
(b) McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-15_Eagle
(Introduction 1976; Status Active; Number built F-15A/B/C/D/J/DJ: 1,198)
(c) Taiwan has not operated either F-4 or F-15, but still flies Northrop F-5 (but expects to retire both F-5 and Mirage-2000 by 2020).

(2) Exporting Wargaming. Oct 17, 2012
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htlead/articles/20121017.aspx
("The U.S. exports a lot of things to its allies. One of the little known exports is wargaming. * * * While American naval wargaming uses a lot of computers, a lot of the wargame design effort is still manual, as in putting together what looks like a board game. * * * You verify your game by playing out a past situation, to see if the game can accurately reflect the decisions, actions, and outcomes of that situation. At that point you can use the game to investigate what both sides can do to each other in the present and future")

(3) We're In It For The Money. Oct 14, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/articles/20121014.aspx
("Turns out that [Canadian naval officer Jeffrey Delisle had not been recruited by Russian diplomats, as was some believed, but had walked into the Russian embassy and offered his services. * * * Delisle did it for the money which, since the end of the Cold War, has become the primary motivation for spies recruited in other countries")

(4)
(a) Russia Copes With The Vikramaditya Disaster. Oct 14, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20121014.aspx
(summary: Seven of eight steam boilers in the carrier power plant failed during recent high-speed trials, and it was not because India had not allowed asbestos as insulator, or because Russians had used Chinese firebricks instead (as Russians blamed both). Russian engineers concluded it was poor workmanship in boilers/engines)
(b) The Soviet Navy Lives On. Oct 13, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20121013.aspx

Quote: "Soviet Union spent several decades creating the world's second largest navy. By the end (the 1980s) they had half a dozen aircraft carriers in service or under construction. Only three of those carriers are still around. One is operated by Russia, the other two have been sold off and rebuilt by their new owners. China recently commissioned the former Russian carrier Varyag[, which together with Russia's Kuznetsove was of Kuznetsov class] as the Liaoning. India also rebuilt a Russian carrier (Gorshkov[, which was of Kiev class]) as Vikramaditya.

Note: INS Vikramaditya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Vikramaditya
(Vikramaditya was a legendary 1st century BC emperor of Ujjain, India; photo caption: "The conversion plans for the ship have seen all the armament from the foredeck removed, including the P-500 Bazalt cruise missile launchers and the four Antey Kinzhal surface-to-air missile launchers, to make way for a 14.3º bow ski-jump")

(c) China Defends Its Bricks. Oct 9, 2012.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/20121009.aspx

My comment: There is no need to read this article.