best machine the RAF never had
This would have been the Horse to ride......but alas the progress of the war against Germany killed the project as it did so many promising designs.
The end of the war saw the end of so many research projects.
https://www.militaryfactory.com/airc...ircraft_id=419
The end of the war saw the end of so many research projects.
https://www.militaryfactory.com/airc...ircraft_id=419
SAS - astonished they were still planning "Primary armament was to become an array of 6 x 12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine guns mounted in the wings (a reduction from the 8 x 12.7mm machine guns in the original P-47 Thunderbol)" so late in the war - almost all Erupean fighters had switched to a mix of MG's and Cannon by about 1941. MG's just didn't hack it
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SAS - astonished they were still planning "Primary armament was to become an array of 6 x 12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine guns mounted in the wings (a reduction from the 8 x 12.7mm machine guns in the original P-47 Thunderbol)" so late in the war - almost all Erupean fighters had switched to a mix of MG's and Cannon by about 1941. MG's just didn't hack it
fighter v fighter 50 cal was an order of magnitude better than canon - not only rate of fire or the amount of lead heading to the target but also the speed of the bullet!
Slow firing, slow velocity cannon with a few 303's that are ineffectual were poor weapons trying to cover the inadequacies of each other in an air/air fight.
You will find the reduction down to 6 50cals had been done in a lot of P-47s operationally. Enough hitting power with 6 - better to have more performance.
It also greatly simplified manufacturing & logistics that the 50cal was the standard aircraft offensive & defensive armament as well as plenty of land & sea based applications.
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This one is back on topic , Blackburn B.87 Barghest F(AW).3; “WZ507/A” of the Royal Air Force 19 Squadron; based at RAF Leconfield summer 1959.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29th_I...(United_States)
29th infantry might have something to say re the Scottish roundel
29th infantry might have something to say re the Scottish roundel
It did go to Belgium and France (and back to Heathrow) in 1959, and there are photos of it over the docks in East London in the same year, so it could easily have gone to Hayes as well.
By the 60's the factory was pretty much surrounded by housing.
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If my dog was that ugly I'd shave it's arse and make it walk backwards!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29th_I...(United_States)
29th infantry might have something to say re the Scottish roundel
29th infantry might have something to say re the Scottish roundel
I was in MOD 1989 to 1994 in a couple of posts seeing circulation papers when the RAF was offered the F-15E at a preferential price to extend production for a lot less than Harrier GR5 was costing at the time. Given that the main raison d'etre for Harrier GR5 and later models - forward field operations in Germany - had gone by then, there is no doubt in my mind which the better bang for the buck would have been in the long term.
The sheer combination of performance and weapon load carrying ability - both in weight and variety terms - of the F-15E is unsurpassed in any fighter even today.
Whether the RAF would ever have been able to avail itself of all the offered upgrades - both to the aircraft and in terms of weapons options - over the last 25 years is another matter.
However, had the F-15E been procured, both the Jaguar and the Harrier could have been binned earlier than they were, with significant savings in support costs - one fleet instead of two - and there would have been a lot less messing around with fleet-within-fleet issues to get an acceptable theatre entry standard for the deployed operations that followed.
F-15Es bought in the mid-1990s would most probably still be on the RAF's front line now.
Taking things a step further - although it's unlikely to happen in the UK - for any small air arm looking to expand it's capability exponentially in a relatively short timescale - and or to augment its relatively small buy of F-35s - the F-15EX offers a lot of capability for the money.
Even the USAF - with its ongoing ageing fighter fleet recapitalization issue - is just beginning to realize this.
This is an interesting article on the F-15EX debate going on in the USA - with plenty of pictures of F-15E weapon load combinations, details of F-15EX upgrades, and descriptions of various capabilities that have emerged over the years and others that could be developed in the future.
https://warontherocks.com/2019/06/f-...ighter-debate/
The sheer combination of performance and weapon load carrying ability - both in weight and variety terms - of the F-15E is unsurpassed in any fighter even today.
Whether the RAF would ever have been able to avail itself of all the offered upgrades - both to the aircraft and in terms of weapons options - over the last 25 years is another matter.
However, had the F-15E been procured, both the Jaguar and the Harrier could have been binned earlier than they were, with significant savings in support costs - one fleet instead of two - and there would have been a lot less messing around with fleet-within-fleet issues to get an acceptable theatre entry standard for the deployed operations that followed.
F-15Es bought in the mid-1990s would most probably still be on the RAF's front line now.
Taking things a step further - although it's unlikely to happen in the UK - for any small air arm looking to expand it's capability exponentially in a relatively short timescale - and or to augment its relatively small buy of F-35s - the F-15EX offers a lot of capability for the money.
Even the USAF - with its ongoing ageing fighter fleet recapitalization issue - is just beginning to realize this.
This is an interesting article on the F-15EX debate going on in the USA - with plenty of pictures of F-15E weapon load combinations, details of F-15EX upgrades, and descriptions of various capabilities that have emerged over the years and others that could be developed in the future.
https://warontherocks.com/2019/06/f-...ighter-debate/
Why not go the whole hog and replace the Tornado (both marks ) with F15E. There would of course be the small issue of not having a compatible tanker. Just as well we thought about that with Voyager!