[Cardinal]

Some interesting newspaper articles ...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0110/dailyUpdate.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0111/p07s01-woap.html

[SKUNKY]

HOLY SMOKES!..I've never seen so much nudity in my life.. I'm subscribing to that rag!!

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by SKUNKY

HOLY SMOKES!..I've never seen so much nudity in my life.. I'm subscribing to that rag!!

Yeah, that's for sure!

[datacroft]

It would appear that the US is suffering from 'Not Invented Here' syndrome again at the potential cost/risk to in ground forces.
So, no 'Trophy' will be awarded to the Pentagon.

[SKUNKY]

Don't pay any attention to Datacroft. He's just being juvenile and trying to fool people into clicking on to those links....He can be such an infant at times...

[jim]

Very scary stuff. where will the power be in 20years????

Originally Posted by Cardinal

Some interesting newspaper articles ...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0110/dailyUpdate.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0111/p07s01-woap.html

[Aircrafty]

I didn't see any nudity, but I want to know if Christian Science is an oxymoron like Military Intelligence.

[DADoser]

The story in the first link really was disturbing when I first became aware of it back in Sept '06.

I found it a little suprising that it wasn't picked up much more by the "mainstream" media back in Sept. '06. Damn that "liberal" biased MSM! But I digress....

Reminds me of a story my Modern Middle East professor told the class back in 1986. He told us about the Israeli Air Force. (Hopefully I have the details right - its been a few years.) Apparently, when they started getting and using F-4 Phantoms they discovered it had a blind spot - so the Israeli pilots simply installed a mirror and it solved the problem. Israel then just installed the mirrors in all their Phantoms because it worked for their pilots. Apparently, according to the professor - the U.S. had to commission a formal study and have comprehensive data before acknowledging/addressing/fixing this issue in the Phantom. It took a lot of wasted time and administrative B.S..

Anybody heard or can confirm this story?

One thing about Israel and her military - they are practical and use what works on the offensive and defensive. No administrative B.S. or corporate profiteering issues seem to get in the way, when it comes to protecting Israel/her soldiers.

[DADoser]

As far as the story in the second link....

If we really wanted to jump start China's arms industry, maybe we could get a U.S. president to declare them part of the "Axis of Evil" in a A State of the Union Address.

[Berkut76]

Originally Posted by DADoser

Israel then just installed the mirrors in all their Phantoms because it worked for their pilots. Apparently, according to the professor - the U.S. had to commission a formal study and have comprehensive data before acknowledging/addressing/fixing this issue in the Phantom. It took a lot of wasted time and administrative B.S..

Anybody heard or can confirm this story?

One thing about Israel and her military - they are practical and use what works on the offensive and defensive. No administrative B.S. or corporate profiteering issues seem to get in the way, when it comes to protecting Israel/her soldiers.

Yes, although, it sounds anecdotal the story is entirely true, but Israel has become us in many ways with suffocating rules of engagement and way too much emphasis being put on Air Force armament and equipment.

The war in Lebanon took the Israeli army by surprise and flat footed in many ways. While old-style RPGs and AT missiles of 1960s and 1970s vintage didn't put as much as a scratch on the Merkava with a known case of the MBTs sustaining twenty hits without any damage, Russia's newly developed systems like RPG-29 "Vampire" (due to variety of ordinance produced for this bugger, it's probably the deadliest portable weapon system used right now. God forbid coalition forces we'll have to encounter one on the battlefield) and "Cornet" AT-missile taking incredible toll on Israeli armor.

What people don't know is that four Israeli Merkavas were equipped with Trophy system, and it worked. The US Military excuse that it won't work with the US weapons system is BS since all the Israeli-produced armaments are compatible with NATO-standards for obvious reasons.

The thing with Trophy is that it has been developed strictly as a private venture of Rafael without the US or Israeli government financing. Apparently, unlike in the past, Israel is no longer willing to sell the license to produce its most in-demand on the world market systems to the US on the cheap.

So folks, there is a lot of politics involved when it comes to armaments production and acquisition.

Regards,

Sergey