The Need For Speed

[nachtjaeger]

Sweet! But, as long as nobody objects, I plan to avoid looking "up" through the canopy and seeing terrain.

French AF Playing

Some good delta-wing stuff here

[kham]

Yeah, neggies suck but some good drivers there

[DangerGirl]

I believe what we are witnessing in that video is an aborted approach....as to why he jammed the throttles and yanked the nose up I suspect a 'fouled deck' or something in the danger area immediately adjacent to the angle deck. The hook came DAMN close to snagging the number two wire which would have brought that flight to a very abrupt end had it done so. I spent a few years working on the deck myself on now retired ships so there is a bit of experience behind that opinion

Luckily for that pilot, the Su-33 has enough thrust and low-speed, high-AOA controllability enter, sustain, and escape from a "Sabre Dance" situation. And I agree; had that hook actually caught cable, it would have been ugly.

Not a lot of people know that Fairchild Republic built a prototype naval version of the A-10, with a backward-facing tailhook. Unfortunately, while certainly fast enough, the carriers lacked the maneuverability to consistently trap the Warthog from behind.

[DangerGirl]

Looks like China is getting into the 5th-generation fighter act. Hard to say right now how good it's actually going to be, though.

[Mynock]

Modernizing their military=steal an F-22 and paint a red star on the tail.

[Billie Bonce]

Hard to say right now how good it's actually going to be, though.

It doesn't matter. They have maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaany pilots

[Duncan Edwards]

... while certainly fast enough, the carriers lacked the maneuverability to consistently trap the Warthog from behind.

I used to hear dad say something similar about A-1 Skyraiders back in the day.

[kham]

Kinda reminds me of the YF-23, or if the -23 and an F-22 got together and this was the outcome.

Whether or not it does anything than look good at an airshow, is an open question however....

[bart1997]

.

[DangerGirl]

Alas, from the economic point of view it's the american and the european taxpayer (to a lesser extent) who pays all that equipment, as they have billions and billions of bonds in North America and the EU already. You can think good, neutral or bad about them, but they know how to play that new "Great Game"

Sun Tzu would be pleased.