GorT generally despises “reality TV” – it’s akin to texting in that it is a cheap way for networks to earn money by airing low budget content (and therefore low-value content) and rake in the advertising money (texting for those … Continue reading →
As Congress begins to take up the Obama administration’s defense budget, one item not even under discussion needs to be considered. Events of the past 18 months have made clear that it’s time to rethink the fate of the F-22 … Continue reading →
MC writes in to suggest that perhaps the F-16 interceptors would have been scrambled from Andrews AFB, and not Bolling. That does seem more likely. The Czar is too weary at the moment to update the math. But great catch, … Continue reading →
The Czar is not certain what the author’s actual point is, but it can’t be a good one. Wired’s David Axe is reporting on the remarkably interesting X-37B spaceplane, which the United States Air Force is currently testing. One of … Continue reading →
Because this retiring Air Force general’s presentation to the Air Force Association makes it clear that our this-generation aircraft are increasingly vulnerable to both Russian and Chinese SAMs and fighters, and our heretofore unchallengeable air superiority is becoming, well, challengeable, … Continue reading →
Lurking about the presidency in the guise of secretary of state, America’s chief diplomat has embarked upon a mistake that someday may rival Dean Acheson’s exclusion of Korea from the Pacific defense area, or April Glaspie’s muddled words to Saddam … Continue reading →
Here’s a couple tiny excerpts, but you need to read Arthur Herman’s piece in the upcoming Commentary. Twice. Not just because it jibes extensively with Confucius’s* thoughts on the American military. Seriously. Make time. Print it out. Whatever it takes. … Continue reading →
…from John Noonan at the Standard. He quotes Politico: The Air Force will hang on to its F-22 tooling at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., production plant even after it stops making the fifth generation fighter jet in 2012, according to … Continue reading →
Nonetheless, a universal connection links every living American with those who have fallen or will fall in American wars and overrides the lapses in sustaining and honoring their memories. We are and shall be connected to them by debt and … Continue reading →
So, the good folks over at Air Power Australia have put out maybe the most comprehensive open-source study of the PAK-FA, and whaddya know, it looks to be a hell of a plane. In fact, it’s so good that if … Continue reading →
So, Friday, the good folks at Sukhoi gave the first public test flight of the PAK-FA, which is an acronym meaning roughly “Advanced Aircraft System: Frontline Aviation.” The Sukhoi plane is officially called the T-50, so we’ll go with that … Continue reading →
…Goldfarb drags me back in! Let’s just go to the money quote: “White House aides actually made them remove the F-22-said they would not allow POTUS to be pictured with the F-22 in any way, shape, or form.” While the … Continue reading →
Gormogon Operative Mark writes Confucius*, apropos Gen. McPeak’s op-ed (which Confucius mainly posted to bash the general’s apparent fecklessness as a high-level advisor, but with the general thrust of which he agrees): Ask anyone who served in the Air Force … Continue reading →
OPINION AUGUST 9, 2009, 7:43 P.M. ET Why We Need the F-22 It’s been more than half a century since American soldiers were killed by hostile aircraft. Let’s keep it that way. By MERRILL A. MCPEAK The United States relies … Continue reading →
So check this out. The US Air Force has toyed with the idea of putting a high powered laser on the nose of an aircraft for a long time. The problem with this is that air has enough particulate matter … Continue reading →
Regardless of the vote in the Senate, “ The F-22 funding termination this week doesn’t change a thing [about the tactical advantages offered by the stealth fighter’s advanced systems] and I think history will bear out the F-22 advocates’ position … Continue reading →
Mike Goldfarb writes a great obituary. It’s not quite Marc Antony at Caesar’s funeral, but it’s worth your time, beginning: The final vote is 58 to 40. With that victory the Obama White House has eliminated the last major threat … Continue reading →
Why is it so expensive for the Pentagon to buy stuff? I can’t even summarize. Notice the similarities to GorT talking about his Wang. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →The item in question: The names of the USAF’s first four Reapers. They are named Conquest, War, Famine and Death, after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. “For the Americans, the Book of Revelations wins out every time”, Brookes said. … Continue reading →
Seems like it. Although, Confucius* has to note that the Kyrgyz might have said nyet, but they might instead have said zhok. *For those who came in late: Confucius is the Gormogons’ Œcumenical Volgi. And, yeah, he’s got a Kyrgyz … Continue reading →
The government of Kyrgyzstan is waffling on kicking us out of Manas AFB. I suspect means we’re doing a good job at saying, “Hey, look, you remember, oh, say, 1862–1991 when the Russians ran things around here? You sure you … Continue reading →
Bloomberg reports that POTUS Obama wishes to redefine the US efforts in Afghanistan. Of interest to the Czar is the President’s concern about the needs of the poppy growers. “You know, what are we doing to replace poppy crops for … Continue reading →
Stuart Koehl & Martin Feldstein. Sorry for the light posting. Your Volgi is beat and running around like a madman due to various family obligations. But you need to read these items. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that … Continue reading →
Gordon Chang relates that RAND says the Chinese are very close to absolute air superiority in a potential Taiwan invasion. This is very bad news on a number of fronts. First, peace in East Asia has generally been stable due … Continue reading →
M.A. O’Grady is doing her typically excellent work on Latin America in the WSJ today, with an excellent piece on Chávez and his comrade Evo Morales (she didn’t mention the Hondurans’ snide move this week, though), which contains this gem … Continue reading →
