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First Super Tucano aircraft roll out for Afganistan.

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What does the taliban have ,that can bring this aircraft down??? anybody enlighten me.
It seems to be a good aircraft with a decent payload and looks like a good starter aircraft for a young airforce.
 
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Pakistan is fighting the Taliban? Which Taliban exactly, the Afghan Taliban of Mullah Omar or the Pakistani Taliban known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)?

So far, I've not seen Pakistan fight the Afghan Taliban a single day since 2001 unless you can enlighten me otherwise.

From what I've seen so far with recent operation it looks like they are not discriminating since the attacks in Pakistan. Whether they will go so far to kill or capture them all depends on them.
 
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From what I've seen so far with recent operation it looks like they are not discriminating since the attacks in Pakistan. Whether they will go so far to kill or capture them all depends on them.

Again, Pakistani military is only fighting Pakistani Taliban which is Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and not the Afghan Taliban.

These Pakistani Taliban previously were known as the Pushtoon separatists who were dreaming of creating an independence Pushtoonistan since 1959. Periodic Pakistani military action had been taken against them for many decades but nothing on the scale since 2002.

To fight with Afghan Taliban would mean Pakistan attacking, invading and deploying forces within Afghanistan i.e. Pakistan would have to become one of the largest ISAF partners. This offer was rejected straightaway by Pakistan in 2001 despite knowing there would've been a massive backing for Pakistan.

The same reason Turkey didn't invade Iraq in 2003 despite American calls.
 
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It is a good transition aircraft, it will hopefully be followed up by F-16's or F-15's.

Pros:

Great on fuel
Easy maintenance
Cheap to buy and maintain
Great for inexperienced pilots
Can fly in most weather conditions (if pilot can take the turbulence)
Has limited attack capability
Can take off small, rough airstrips

Cons:

Slow
Limited ceiling
Limited attack capability
Outdated as a dedicated air force aircraft, suits a support role.
 
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Pros:

Great on fuel
Easy maintenance
Cheap to buy and maintain
Great for inexperienced pilots
Can fly in most weather conditions (if pilot can take the turbulence)
Has limited attack capability
Can take off small, rough airstrips

Cons:

Slow
Limited ceiling
Limited attack capability
Outdated as a dedicated air force aircraft, suits a support role.

It was build for a COIN role, it was never meant to be a "Air Force aircraft" - and it actually posses a lot of attack capabilities.
 
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It was build for a COIN role, it was never meant to be a "Air Force aircraft" - and it actually posses a lot of attack capabilities.
And that is the war that Afghanistan is fighting. Some people seem to think that Afghanistan needs F-16's instead. To shoot down...who? To attack who's tanks or command centers? Afghanistan is not fighting a war against Pakistan but against insurgents that the Super Tuc's were designed for. I have worked with those aircraft in Colombia and they are about the best COIN a/c around.
 
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Pros:

Great on fuel
Easy maintenance
Cheap to buy and maintain
Great for inexperienced pilots
Can fly in most weather conditions (if pilot can take the turbulence)
Has limited attack capability
Can take off small, rough airstrips

Cons:

Slow
Limited ceiling
Limited attack capability
Outdated as a dedicated air force aircraft, suits a support role.


@Icarus; you have listed one of the Cons as "Slow". That sir; can also work as a Pro. Flying slow and low allows the Pilot to pin-point his target/s. A Jet pilot flies over terrain and his target passes in a blink of an eye. Now that is one hell of a wasteful and expensive way to target and engage his 'prey'. Apart from issues of "collateral damage" which can (probably) be discounted to some extent.
Rotary-Winged platforms can also work well, but turbo-props work even better and cost-effectively to boot. Of course there is another good option, viz. UCAVs. I'd plump for a Super Tucano over a F-16 (or even a JF-17) any day. While the Jets may make for "good press" (propaganda), the Turbo-Props can do some real "meat-grinding".
 
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And that is the war that Afghanistan is fighting. Some people seem to think that Afghanistan needs F-16's instead. To shoot down...who? To attack who's tanks or command centers? Afghanistan is not fighting a war against Pakistan but against insurgents that the Super Tuc's were designed for. I have worked with those aircraft in Colombia and they are about the best COIN a/c around.

Tell us more please..! Any anecdotes?
 
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Tell us more please..! Any anecdotes?
I was assigned as a military advisor in numerous deployments to the Amazon basin area and occasionally to the lower llanos area of southern Colombia. I was specifically sent there to combat the narcotics cartels but their relationship with Colombia’s primary military threat, the communist guerilla army FARC, made it impossible to not be engaged in conflict with both. I can attest to the Super Tuc's toughness, simplicity of maintenance, and deadly accuracy in attack when well flown and CAF pilots are very well trained. I can't say much more except I really enjoyed it there. It is a breathtakingly beautiful country with wonderful people and the Colombian armed forces are very professional. So much so that they largely defeated FARC in a brilliant counterinsurgency effort.

Colombian Air Force Super Tucano.

a-29-STucano-colombian.jpg


A typical Colombian village.

jardin_antioquia.jpg
 
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