I heard today that they air dropped equipment, then had to bomb some of out immediately after because it wasn't accessible by the Kurds. it was going to fall into isis hands. http://m.wsj.com/articles/BL-WB-49996
Islamic State: The US volunteers who fight with Syria's Kurds Does this tempt anyone? The buzz of war is addicting.
so since i'm not an armed forces nerd and i know there's a bunch of old timey vets in here that probably served before there were planes, i'm curious as to just HOW much better F-18's are than Mig-23's. i read a little bit on wiki about each, and i'm sure the radar and detection systems on our stuff has been continuously upgraded over the years making it way better, but is that really the distinct advantage here if there were to be aerial dog fights? i only ask cause the F-18 in itself doesn't seem like such a spring chicken any more. it seems pretty apparent that the F-22 could out-everything a Mig-23 in every sense... but with the 18, is it primarily the AMRAAM shit and radar that would make it ruin every Mig before it could even be seen? The top speeds don't seem that far off each other at all even though its decades newer, and actually the Mig seems like its faster and has a slightly higher ceiling. climbs a bit slower and weighs a bit more though. I kinda expected more, but then I guess at some point that's unecessary and starts compromising the aerodynamic make-up of the design in order to do so. I guess nobody is probably ever getting in air to air machine gun fights any more either. just curious, cause at first read of these 'ISIS has jets' articles, i literally laughed out loud, like this is a joke right? but then i started thinking about it some more and i wasn't sure how much of a joke it actually was. i assume the radar and missile systems are garbage in 30 year old Migs unless Russia has been sending these goons technology all these years. i dunno anything about the possibility of any of that.
Material Condition Straight performance is not the only factor. Suppose a MIG-23 in 1975 had similar performance to a new F/A-18D. That performance is now how many decades old? How old are those airframes? How many hours on those engines? How well are those aircraft maintained? I know the Navy's aircraft are well maintained. Even though Obama has damn near crippled the military with his budget cuts to the military while tasking them with more and more operation needs, their aircraft are better maintained than those MIG's. What electronics they do have, are they actually working? Shit breaks in aircraft......A lot. Shit breaks even more, like a factor of 10x, in austere conditions and in combat aircraft. Training No finer pilot and aircrew than the U.S., especially Navy. The best of the best. Years worth of training to get into the aircraft. Years of physical conditioning and academics. Years spent in Primary Flight training, FRS (Fleet Replacement Squadron) where they learn the basics of flying the F/A-18. Then in the squadron, qualifying and training. Work ups and quals just to go on deployment. Training while deployed. Training, training, and more training. Quarterly, semi-annual, and annual exams. Training never stops. These guys are former Iraqi pilots who are already below the power curve and haven't flown in how long? The guys they are training, got off the goat last week? Support Isis has what, 5-6 aircraft total? So, they will be flying alone basically. Goat fucker vs. Man. Before (if ever) they see an F/A, the MIG will have been tracked and monitored by US E-2's and/or E-3's. They have their systems jammed or disabled by F/A-18 Growlers and/or EP-3's. They are basically a one goat fucker team trying to play football against the 1985 Chicago Bears. Electronics/Weapons Not even close to comparable. It's like comparing a Commodore 64 to a modern day high performance computer.
An article that I read last week said that ISIS, and their Iraqi pilots, were having to fly very low all the time so that they would not show up on radar and get their ass shot out of the sky. I guess they'll do that until they're well trained.. It's kind of like teaching your five year old how to be a perfect ball carrier before sending him to the NFL next year. "Sorry man, I didn't mean to step on your kid's head" said the 300 lb lineman.
hahaha thanks for the perspective. i figured as much, but i didn't actually have any factual detail on it. AND i didn't even consider the pilot himself, where these dudes are idiots and ours are like the smartest dudes we have with a ton of training... was just laughing more from the planes they named in itself. carry on. also LOL'd... “I’d sell my first born to engage all three… by myself,” one highly experienced U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot joked.
Training issues for ISIS?? http://www.duffelblog.com/2014/10/i...ed-safety-stand-islamic-new-year-study-finds/
It was good and it puts the threat into perspective. I came away understanding that the threat is real, is global, and that with each victory the movement grows stronger.
Agreed. I like that they added some context to the advance of ISIL. I never seem to get that from my news sources.
The one major thing I learned was why they are more like an army of than your typical terror organization. I did not know the extent of the involvement of former Iraqi military. I thought they were getting that expertise from foreign fighters.
Well, those same individuals were the core of the insurgency in Iraq after the invasion. There are also reports coming out now that up to 30 detainees released from Gitmo are now fighting in ISIS. Not sure of what level they are at, but their status/experiences as a Gitmo detainee is probably of some value to ISIS.
