Quote:
"Very few aircraft are going to be able to get into a turning fight with this aircraft, they're not going to be able to get into that dog-fight zone," he said.
What's the one common thread that links every high scoring fighter ace since WW1? The dictum "Never, never, never get yourself involved in a turning dogfight."
Even if the F18 jocks wanted to ignore this sage advice, they'll never get the chance to do so if the other side is equipped with a superior fighter with a long range missile.
And does anyone not think that the ABC selectively pulled short snippets from what was a long interview to support their story??? They effectively sidelined Roberton as an influence on this story with their editing. (Not the first time they have done that to a RAAF officer mind you)
Interesting how they didn't show anything from him that attempted to explain the leap in capability driven by the new weapon system (primarily derived from AESA)
-if the rumoured results of when the IAF suks took on the USAF latest F15's is anything to go with,i guess will find if the FA18F is all that its cracked up to be. according to 4corners it will be a slaughter.
Dont take anything from an exercise you weren't involved in or know nothing about; there are always limitations placed on one or both sides in these exercises to generate the training outcomes that are desired from these exercises. You will also find US forces exercising with some foreign forces will intentionally hand-cuff themselves for security considerations (i.e release of information restrictions)
As for cred. Hmmmm...Let me see now. A former Air Commander Australia with the balls to risk reputation and 'club membership' by appearing publically on a program like 4 Corners, ....or the anonymous unfounded rhetoric of ozbiggles? ....
The same Air Commander that was sacked from his job as Air Commander; whose 2IC at the time just happened to be the current CAF
And you're first hand familiar with the Su's avionics, weps, handling and specific force doctrine of real and potential operators with the Su27 -> 30 through 37 family and sub-variants et al are you? ...other than, like most of us, what you might have "have read in a book".
Any current RAAF fast jet pilot would in fact have access to significant amounts of information. Much much more than Criss, Mills, Kopp and Goon.
The abundantly obvious was confirmed by the process not only not going to tender, but the representatives of contenting competitors not even being 'received at court'. Smacks of, our (then) next boat, "Collins class" type political considerations over-riding sound decision making.
Dont confuse the political issue over the aquisition decision; with the issue of capability. Just because the process may have been flawed, doesn't automatically make the aircraft any less capable.
Oh by the way, the Collins is now the best non nuclear sub in the world at the moment
Victor 2; don't be a complete idiot
Chris Mills - never heard of him in my 15 years in the fighter world
Kopp and Goon show - most people when they get ignored for years tend to fade away; points for persistence for these two.
What 4 Corners did not show was Roberton explaining the difference between FA18E/F (original version) and the FA18E/F Block II.
The Block II is only now in production, so to compare it to the Hornet of the 90's is irrelavent. The AESA radar is the difference here, when combined with data links, jammers, HMS and a revised cockpit set-up make then two versions uncomparable. Throw in AEW&C and AAR then our northern neighbours are no-where near us.
Soviet aircraft in service with our northern neighbours have a history of major serviceability issues.
We are talking 1990 Commodore compared to 2007 Commodore, effectively same in name only.