F-35... destined for greatness?

TankGunner said:
For the record, the US does not produce RPG's (either any of the -7 variants or -18's) but did build the M-72 LAW rocket that looks alot like a RPG-18. The US military used Rifle-mounted grenades, but haven't since the Vietnam War.

I highly doubt the US would fund any of the Kashmir terrorist at all, or that the Pakistani ISI would risk such a large and destabilising attack as the one in India (I apologize, I can't spell the city's name correctly right now)
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i might have been mistaken about the RPG's, they deffinately looked like them in the pic.

however lets not forget that the pak ISI was one of the main planners behind an event as recent and big as the Kargil incursion on 1999 which brought the entire subcontinent to the brink of nuclear war. i dont see why they can plan something like the Bombay blasts which are pathetically becoming a regualr occourance now. here is a small extract of what heppened behind the scenes in Kargil, it wa sthe 1st thing to come up in google
 
i thing i have sadly noticed is that the UK has not developed a proper combat aircraft on its own in quiet a while. the last proper fighters i i know produce were the Jaguars ( which our IAF uses till this date ) sure they have made the Hawk trainers ( id say the most popular trainers on the planet these days ) but nothing that can stand in the line of combat. if thast the case what is their fleet outfitted with mostly these days ?
 
Competition

TankGunner said:
From what I could research, that designation was simply passed up, in going from the F-18 to the F-20. One reason, (the best of the ones I read) is that Northrup asked for the F-20 designation, and the Air Force never went back to F-19.
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Actually the F-18 was the winner between the contest to create new fighter bomber between the YF-18 and the YF-19. Both were similar in performance and abilities but only one could be chosen for production. The same thing happened between the F-22 and F-23, as well as in the JSF competition where three designs entered and one was chosen.
 
Actually the F-18 was the winner between the contest to create new fighter bomber between the YF-18 and the YF-19
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I think you're thinking of the YF-17 Cobra. There never was a F-19. The YF-17 flew against the F-16, lost, then was selected off-the-shelf by the Navy for the F/A-18. There wasn't a competition for the contract of the F/A-18, the Navy just bought it.


i might have been mistaken about the RPG's, they deffinately looked like them in the pic.
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I'd like to see that picture, if you could post it. I'm very good at identifying foreign ordenance. (not so good at spelling it.) The Jaguar was a ground attack aircraft, I believe of the same era as the BAE Lightining. The RN currently flies GR.7 Harriers, while the RAF uses Tornados.
 
TankGunner said:
I think you're thinking of the YF-17 Cobra. There never was a F-19. The YF-17 flew against the F-16, lost, then was selected off-the-shelf by the Navy for the F/A-18. There wasn't a competition for the contract of the F/A-18, the Navy just bought it.
Sorry, got my numbers crossed. I'm gonna try to check out F-19 anyway.

EDIT: No dice, just checked indexes in History of Military Aviation, and The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare. No F-19 found anywhere. HMMMM? Maybe the name is bad luck like when you get 19 in cribbage.
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About the F-19.

From what I've read, the F-19 was a conjectural designation for the F-117 when no one knew what it looked like and there was talk of a Stealth Fighter. We see it as a model kit and I think as a plane in Red Storm Rising.

Also I read earlier that some one thought the RN wasn't developing a new Carrier. I don't know if it has been adressed but, they are planning a new series of carriers to replace the Invincible Class. I read about it a while ago in AW&ST and they called it a CVF. It probably has another name now.
 
Yeah, but that was just a bunch of authors and others trying to make up a story. I think Tom Clancy and "Red Storm Rising" gave that rumor the biggest run.
 
Yeah, after Red Storm Rising it was featured in the Janes Guide to Military Aircraft. I belive it had that Model Kit's art too.
 
powell99 said:
Yeah, after Red Storm Rising it was featured in the Janes Guide to Military Aircraft. I belive it had that Model Kit's art too.
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And let's not forget the old 386, DOS-vintage game, F-19 Stealth Fighter!
 
The game came after the release of the Testor F-19 model, based (if I'm remembering correctly a little news filler segment that had an interview with a Testor designer) on educated guesses regarding the requirements for stealthy aircraft (no direct radar reflections, no readily visible turbine blades to provide hard radar hits, suppressed heat sources wherever possible to hide from IR sensors, etc)
 
Yeah, after Red Storm Rising it was featured in the Janes Guide to Military Aircraft. I belive it had that Model Kit's art too.
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I don't think it would ever have been in a Jane's book. Jane's is a world respected guide to any kind of equipment. If their is something you really need to know about a certain piece of equipment, pick up one of the 20 pound Jane's manuals at a library. They never speculate on anything, it's the most accurate source in the civilian world.

So then what... the military decided not to use the number because the Testor model was badass?
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No one knows.... they just went from F-18 to F-20. I don't think that they would have made it that obvious if there was super secret airplane in development, though.
 
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