Airpower: India threatens US air superiority

WASHINGTON - The success of the Indian air force against American
fighter planes in a recent exercise suggests other countries may soon
be able to threaten U.S. military dominance of the skies, a top Air
Force general said Wednesday.

"We may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we thought we
were," said Gen. Hal M. Hornburg, the chief of Air Combat Command,
which oversees U.S. fighter and bomber wings.

I'd say the same thing if I wanted the Raptor and the Jayesseff funded.

v/r
Gordon

Are we losing our status as the most powerful country in the world and could
other countries catch up?
"Krztalizer" wrote in message
...

WASHINGTON - The success of the Indian air force against American
fighter planes in a recent exercise suggests other countries may soon
be able to threaten U.S. military dominance of the skies, a top Air
Force general said Wednesday.

"We may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we thought we
were," said Gen. Hal M. Hornburg, the chief of Air Combat Command,
which oversees U.S. fighter and bomber wings.

I'd say the same thing if I wanted the Raptor and the Jayesseff funded.

v/r
Gordon

"Gomez Addams" wrote in message
...
Are we losing our status as the most powerful country in the world
and could
other countries catch up?

Many parts of the US are deindustrializing. Engineering,
manufacturing and hi-tech jobs are disappearing and being replaced
with services jobs. (most in low paid domestic services: the job led
recovery is a bit of a sham)

Concurently India and China are industrialising. In fact in the
current globalisation climate many of the engineers gaining skills are
indians and chinese in their home countries as western companies move
their manufacturing and R&D efforts to those countries. Many also
gain skills expating in the USA under varous visas. In addition those
countries have sizable and capable R&D capabilties of their own.
With populations of 1 billion or so each some of them are going to be
good engineers and they will thus be able to put together some clever
projects.

I suspect that the current desperate actions by neocons to get
something happening in Iraq and the middle east relate to the
realisation that the gap is closing and capable weapons and technology
is going to be available to the Arabs.






"Krztalizer" wrote in message
...

WASHINGTON - The success of the Indian air force against American
fighter planes in a recent exercise suggests other countries may
soon
be able to threaten U.S. military dominance of the skies, a top
Air
Force general said Wednesday.

"We may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we
thought we
were," said Gen. Hal M. Hornburg, the chief of Air Combat
Command,
which oversees U.S. fighter and bomber wings.

I'd say the same thing if I wanted the Raptor and the Jayesseff
funded.

v/r
Gordon

India has ordered Italian Savannahs, and with the big engine. We are in trouble
now!

-- Charlie Springer

I have been able to see some SU-30s take off recently. Impressive plane. Of
course the downside of being able to see SU-30s also puts myself at ground zero
for a Pak/Indian nuke exchange.


Ron
PA-31T Cheyenne II
Maharashtra Weather Modification Program
Pune, India

362436 (Ron) wrote in message ...
I have been able to see some SU-30s take off recently. Impressive plane. Of
course the downside of being able to see SU-30s also puts myself at ground zero
for a Pak/Indian nuke exchange.




Remember the MiG-25? There was an impressive airplane.

India Times reported they were outnumbered 4 on 12
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...SAF~top ~guns

Sure sounds like some kind of big spin that they left that bit out.
Hopefully just bad writing.

"Yeoman" wrote in message
om...
What's going on here? Is this for real?


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...s/us_air_force
General: U.S. Dominance of Skies May Wane

2 hours, 37 minutes ago

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The success of the Indian air force against American
fighter planes in a recent exercise suggests other countries may soon
be able to threaten U.S. military dominance of the skies, a top Air
Force general said Wednesday.

"We may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we thought we
were," said Gen. Hal M. Hornburg, the chief of Air Combat Command,
which oversees U.S. fighter and bomber wings.


The U.S.-India joint exercise, "Cope India," took place in February
near Gwalior in central, India. It pitted some F-15C Eagle fighters
from the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, in mock combat
against Indian MiG, Sukhoi and Mirage fighters.


The F-15Cs are the Air Force's primary air superiority aircraft. The
Indian fighters, of Russian and French design, are the type of planes
U.S. fighters would most likely face in any overseas conflict.


Hornburg, speaking to reporters, called the results of the exercise "a
wake-up call" in some respects, but he declined to provide details,
other than to suggest the Indian air force scored several unexpected
successes against the American planes.


For the last 15 years, the U.S. military has enjoyed almost total
command of the air during conflicts. A few fighters and
fighter-bombers have gone down, usually victims of surface-to-air
missile fire, but in general, American planes have been able to target
enemy ground forces at will.


In the most recent invasion of Iraq (news - web sites), Saddam Hussein
(news - web sites)'s air force stayed grounded.


Still, new tactics, better Russian fighters like the Su-30, and a new
generation of surface-to-air missiles mean that U.S. dominance could
be ending, said Loren Thompson, who follows military issues for the
Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank.


"The United States has grown accustomed to having global air
superiority, yet we haven't put much very much money in the last
generation into maintaining that advantage," he said, noting the F-15
first flew in the 1970s.


"So of course the rest of the world is finally starting to catch up,"
he said.


Hornburg said the exercise shows the need for some new Air Force
fighters, particularly the F/A-22 Raptor, which is intended to replace
the F-15C. But critics deride the aircraft as too expensive and built
to counter a threat that hasn't existed since the Soviet Union
collapsed.

Come on. No other air force has as much experience as the US. The
Brist would be second.


Yeah Right,as long as they face
Taliban,Iraqis,Panamanians,Grenadians,Libyans,Zamb ians ,Micronesians etc .,they
are undoubletely the best.

When they face the real best,they need always no less than a GLOBAL ALLIANCE to
contain and defeat the best.

I think calling third rate powers the best is a stretch at the best.

Notwithstanding the fact that operating in a non-hostile environment
is a hell of a lot different that in a 'real' war; something Indian
pilots have little or no experience. In every actual air war in which
the U.S. has been involved, they have always come out on top.


Who have they actually fought with since W.W.II?

Why not include the World Wars as well? That way, you can say they decisively
won every WWII air war they fought, regardless of who they faced.

Why not include the World Wars as well? That way, you can say they
decisively
won every WWII air war they fought, regardless of who they faced.

Only as a part of the GLOBAL ALLIANCE which included Great
Britain,US,USSR,Canada,Australia,France,India,Pola nd,South Africa,New Zealand
and many others.

Correct?