@Gomig-21
EAF may just want to check out the Aegian M2K ops, they can easily form the Vanguard for future operations.
HAF has their very best pilots on the -5EG which forms about a sqn.
Considering the EAF Rafales already have the deadly MICA IR and MBDA has a roadmap for the NG variant, it will be a great investment.
If you are interested, Air Forces Monthly covered the HAF M2K-5EG a month or two ago which is a great read.
That's great. The EAF and HAF participate in a lot of exercises together every year. Most of them are interoperability exercises that include naval, airborne and airforce assets in a joint exercise but yeah, they've done some "closed doors" strictly air force stuff a few times but I personally would like to see the EAF broaden their training scope into a much wider format instead of being so secretive about their stuff and keeping a lot of the intricate capabilities in house only. For example, the US has invited the EAF to several exercises, in the US and in Egypt and it involved some of the pretty heavy duty training simulations that they do at Red Flag and stuff like that but the EAF just doesn't trust the US to end up sharing info with our cousins to the northeast. Their paranoia is intense and so they limited the exercises to events such as Bright Star where there's some intricate stuff like JTAC training and things of that sort, but nothing beyond that.
They've taken the last batch of 24 F-16 block 52s and split them in 2 squadrons, one of which is an aggressor squadron and takes on all the others in training. The pilots who are involved in that squadron are the ones with 2000 hours and stuff of that sorts that have been flying the F-16 for decades lol. But I've always hoped to see them get into something of that intensity with other AFs, especially the US, but whenever they do, it's mostly basic stuff with the exception of the occasional JTAC exercises.
What I would also like to see them do -- depending on this highly anticipated mystery upgrade we're all waiting to see happen to the fleet of F-16s if it's anything like we expect it to be....ehemm......lol, then it would be nice to see the EAF start doing things like our excellent friends the Greeks do with their F-16s -- is integrating the terrific IRIS-T missile to their vipers. This is one of the reasons why I'm actually rooting for the Typhoons more so than more Rafales, because the availability of other weapons platforms (as well as other systems even) that can be procured through the Italians INCLUDING the Meteor missile and then very possibly integrating some of these great weapons or ECM systems onto the EAF F-16s. That would be amazing. If the Typhoon comes, it would come with the IRIS-T missile as its main missile and eventually the Meteor and now imagine the EAF which only had the AIM-9P Sparrow missile, now has the choice to fire the AIM-120C-5/7, the IRIS-T or the Meteor missile. It'd be like going from rags to riches overnight LMFAO.
So nothing would be lost by going with the Typhoon and in reality, a lot more would be gained by going that way IMO. I think it's a much better choice but I'm pretty sure a lot of my compatriots here on this thread would disagree with me.
Here's what I'm talking about with the awesome Greeks and what they did with their F-16s!? Using the AIM-120 accompanied by the integrated deadly IRIS-T. Of course the Americans would have to be on board and sanction it along with their source codes, but if the upgrade coming up is what we anticipate it to be and the AIM-120 is finally on board, then the ski's the limit after that.
BTW, a quick question for you - did the IAF obtain the Meteor already prior to the delivery of the Rafales? Did they arrive last week or something like that along with the SCALPs? Or was that a phony rumor I heard?
....... and thanks to the French we now have our western datalink merged with the Russian datalink.
Can you expound on that data link a little bit more? Which data link did the French help us merge the Russian aircraft with our western ones? Are you referring to LINK-16 that is used on the Rafale as well as the F-16s and the French tweaked it to work with the new MiG-35s and eventually the Su-35? Or is this a different link band completely? This I'd love to hear about!
The EAF/HAF ties are the strongest the EAF has got.
Even naval wise both Egypt and Greece exercise together, thanks for inviting us to the Aegean Sea!
You know those Egyptian Mirage 2000s are 40 years old!!!!!!!! If you stop and think about that for a minute, you realize their longevity and looking and performing the way they still do is a true testament to the Egyptian maintenance and especially the overhaul depot that is always pulling those things apart and changing all the wiring and replacing the engines and doing complete overhauls on those jets. Really remarkable that they're 40 years old and still highly sought after.
Speaking of the Hellenic stuff, how about a nice close-up of an EAF Apache loaded with hellfires and ready to take fry up some crispy erdogan mercenaries! lol
No, the ECM pod is removable, but another wingtip pylon is needed to carry an A-A missile.
As much as I would love to say "ok, I believe you" and I would do it, but then I would be dishonest and that's not me. No knock on you, my friend. I just like to see some valid sources that show undisputed proof that is the case. Anyone can say Yes or No or Maybe, but without a viable source, it's too difficult to be convinced simply off someone's word. In this case, it looks like too much of an item to be interchangeable simply via a pylon change.
On every single aircraft out there, the wingtip pylons or pod attachments are almost always permanent fixtures. Just like the EA-18G Growler I mentioned that essentially uses the same pods. Those things are on there all the time and the under-wing pylons are the ones that carry the variety of weapons or are interchanged for different types of weapons.
Plus you have to factor in the hardware and software systems beyond the pods. What makes them work internally in the aircraft itself is much more complex to be something that they would install on every single Su-35 or 34 and sometimes use it or sometime not. That I highly doubt as it's not a simple system where there is probably a significant amount of hardware inside the cockpit for that ECM system to be operated and the pilot to use and be able to work, accompanied by a most complex series of software and displays etc. This just doesn't seem like it would be something that easily and frequently interchangeable.
It can be avenue for maybe some later Egypt India cooperation...specifically with DARE lab if you looking to indigenize this crucial stuff long term.
You might find this interesting read:
https://www.livefistdefence.com/2017/02/how-a-secretive-drdo-lab-is-saving-the-iaf-su-30mki.html
That's awesome. So they said they'd be fully functional by 2019 and that you'd start seeing them on some of the MKIs by then, have they gotten there yet or not? Would love to see a pic of that and you're right, that really is the way to ultimately go. Build your own systems and make them to your own specs. In our case, it's an item that comes with the Su-35S as opposed to one that never really came with the Su-30MKI and the description of the way it made the aircraft handle after fitting one of the Russian ones on was hilarious. I can see that, actually. Good stuff.
