The United States used an F-35 jet against a Taliban target in Afghanistan earlier on Thursday, marking the first U.S. combat use of the stealthy plane, a U.S. official said.Since it was a Navy jet, here are some signals:
Bravo Foxtrot Delta
Dropping bombs on a defenseless target is as much a combat mission as going deer hunting is being in a gunfight.
The Bush-Obama-Trump Forever War goes on...
Bravo model. Belongs to the crayon eaters, VMFA-211, not Navy. Had Lt. Col. C.K. ‘Otis’ Raible written under the cockpit. Raible was one of two Marines killed in a Taliban attack on Camp Bastion in 2012 and former C.O. of VMFA-211.
ReplyDeleteSame type that just crashed in South Carolina...running score is 1 active mission, 1 active crash...
ReplyDeleteAll the defenses of this plane I've read/seen say its inability to outrun, outclimb, or out maneuver its potential opponents doesn't matter, because dogfighting is a thing of the past. Wasn't that notion disproven several decades ago, when the F4 was sent out without cannons to back up its missiles?
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest problems with that argument has always been that we often don’t allow shooting without ID (for pretty good reason, until we’re into an all out war)...to get ID you often need visual range...get to visual range, it’s dogfight missiles or guns.
ReplyDeleteIn a potentially hostile confrontation with an unidentified (potential) opponent, the Turkey II is a sitting duck (to mix metaphors), whereas in an identified hostile situation it will likely perform perfectly acceptably. It must also be noted that the venerable Sidewinder, even as the X mode, is not the best dogfight middle anymore, not helping the 35’s cause.
As you know, J4rh34d, the Marines are part of the Department of the Navy.
ReplyDeleteThe Men's Department, if you must, but still.