08-27-2011, 12:52 AM
Jaywalker,
I remember all that. The F-5G/F-20A Tigershark was a great little plane. As a kid, reading Aviation Leak and Spy Technology, I was certain it would be adopted by the Air Force, but my dad related to me how the Pentagon brass openly asked, "WTF are we going to do with the F-20?", in late 1985. Since we already had the F-16, it was hard to justify, but it would have made a great Foreign Military Sales aircraft for Southern Asia, Central and South America, and so forth. From what I understand, Northrop sold the TDP for it to China, and they used that for the Chengdu JF-17 Thunder. If you look it up, you'll see the resemblance immediately.
That's the first I've heard that the F-16 licensed production in Europe was connected to the adoption of the POS SAW, which I've carried and used extensively. Similar rumblings surrounded the placement of our bases in Italy and the adoption of the POS Beretta M9 (although an actual Italian M92S is a nice pistol).
I can understand the Soviets' concern over a deep-penetration bomber, even under TAC use with the F-111D's and F's, since the combat radius of that bird was simply impressive. I do lament the retirement of the F-111 quite often. That was a beautiful plane with impressive capabilities. That we even agreed on any arms treaties with the Soviets is a testament to how they desperately needed to rely on diplomatic warfare against us, since their stuff was broke like a joke and completely overrated by their high-level double assets in the CIA, who exaggerated and spread fear at every assessment possible (MIG-25, nuke capabilities, soldier readiness, etc.). It backfired on them by ramping-up our development of weapons systems at a double-time, to a point where they're still playing catch-up, but don't seem to invest the funds into areas you'd think they would now.
They realized after Lend-Lease that capitalists will always build a better mouse trap than communists could ever dream, even with full access to the US Patent Office. They killed all their brains between 1918-1939, literally...by the millions.
I remember all that. The F-5G/F-20A Tigershark was a great little plane. As a kid, reading Aviation Leak and Spy Technology, I was certain it would be adopted by the Air Force, but my dad related to me how the Pentagon brass openly asked, "WTF are we going to do with the F-20?", in late 1985. Since we already had the F-16, it was hard to justify, but it would have made a great Foreign Military Sales aircraft for Southern Asia, Central and South America, and so forth. From what I understand, Northrop sold the TDP for it to China, and they used that for the Chengdu JF-17 Thunder. If you look it up, you'll see the resemblance immediately.
That's the first I've heard that the F-16 licensed production in Europe was connected to the adoption of the POS SAW, which I've carried and used extensively. Similar rumblings surrounded the placement of our bases in Italy and the adoption of the POS Beretta M9 (although an actual Italian M92S is a nice pistol).
I can understand the Soviets' concern over a deep-penetration bomber, even under TAC use with the F-111D's and F's, since the combat radius of that bird was simply impressive. I do lament the retirement of the F-111 quite often. That was a beautiful plane with impressive capabilities. That we even agreed on any arms treaties with the Soviets is a testament to how they desperately needed to rely on diplomatic warfare against us, since their stuff was broke like a joke and completely overrated by their high-level double assets in the CIA, who exaggerated and spread fear at every assessment possible (MIG-25, nuke capabilities, soldier readiness, etc.). It backfired on them by ramping-up our development of weapons systems at a double-time, to a point where they're still playing catch-up, but don't seem to invest the funds into areas you'd think they would now.
They realized after Lend-Lease that capitalists will always build a better mouse trap than communists could ever dream, even with full access to the US Patent Office. They killed all their brains between 1918-1939, literally...by the millions.