gggggg5 (u/gggggg5) - Readit News

gggggg5 commented on Why Finland Selected the F-35A (2021) corporalfrisk.com/2021/12... · Posted by u/sklargh

lm28469 · 3 years ago

> Uh, how do you plan to use dumb bombs like that in a conflict like Ukraine? That would require you to be able to fly right over the enemy airfield, they'd need to have no air defenses whatsoever.

Eeeeh that's exactly what happened in the beginning of the conflict... they (Russia) had paratroopers in Kiev day 1

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

Which was a barely contested treetop-skimming helicopter assault, and went extremely poorly.

You wouldn't have any luck dropping bombs like those out of helicopters.

gggggg5 commented on How to find a tiny radioactive source while doing 70 kph ansto.gov.au/news/wa-outb... · Posted by u/DrZootron

dmurray · 3 years ago

Good job, but a lot of the reports really exaggerate the size of the search area.

> in the formidable conditions of the outback...

> It’s fair to say finding a piece of equipment the size of a button in a vast desert was no easy task

Let's not go too far here. It was two metres from the road and they knew exactly which 1400km of roads to check.

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

I was rather baffled by so many sources claiming that this would be super difficult to find.

It seemed like such a simple task to drive up and down roads with some radiation detection equipment, log the data and investigate any hotspots.

Well, I guess it was? Or maybe I'm severely underestimating the complexity of this?

gggggg5 commented on Why Finland Selected the F-35A (2021) corporalfrisk.com/2021/12... · Posted by u/sklargh

mikl · 3 years ago

No, of course they wouldn’t make such pressure official. But it’s not exactly a secret that the U.S. arms industry has a lot of political pull. Not hard to imagine that such pull extends to “helping” NATO subjects to pick the right suppliers.

As for article 5, that might explain the second gulf war and/or Afghanistan, but certainly not the first gulf war, Libya or Syria.

Whenever Uncle Sam says “jump”, you’ll see all the small NATO states lining up to ask “How high?”.

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

>As for article 5, that might explain the second gulf war and/or Afghanistan

No it wouldn't.

The Article 5 invocation resulted in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Assist and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Active_Endeavour, that's all.

>Whenever Uncle Sam says “jump”, you’ll see all the small NATO states lining up to ask “How high?”.

Consider that small NATO states want to partake in this stuff because it offers their forces an opportunity to gain experience.

gggggg5 commented on Why Finland Selected the F-35A (2021) corporalfrisk.com/2021/12... · Posted by u/sklargh

alexisread · 3 years ago

Well, for credible info: >> In addition, this is an F35A vs Gripen E, so the Gripen has a better STOL capability, likely better radar (rotating GaN), more mature avionics link, supercruise, similar RCS (apart from frontal, it's likely to be smaller, red flag exercises hinted that they were not really detectable) and faster software updates.

STOL capabilities https://www.saab.com/newsroom/stories/2020/august/gripen-des...

Radar, note that's I'd said it's an estimate, based on the fact that it's the first GaN radar and has a wider FOV https://www.saab.com/markets/india/gripen-for-india/technolo...

More mature here means has been around longer in one from or another, since the Viggen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_37_Viggen

Supercruise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercruise

RCS is an overall estimate, certainly not from the front as the F35 is designed as a strike fighter, but with a smaller plane, the RCS may well be similar elsewhere https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/2021/01/07/gripen/

Fast software updates https://www.saab.com/newsroom/stories/2021/january/gripen-so...

Anyway, this is missing the point, which that it's difficult to trust a platform that you don't have the source code to, have to use a parts management system that phones home, and a system that uploads flight data back home. Ownership in this case means having the ability to independently run the aircraft without reliance on other countries' benevolence. In that capacity, whether your adversary is Russia, or some other country is irrelevant.

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

Interesting choice to mostly rely on SAAB marketing materials in an effort to make the case that the Gripen E is better.

>STOL capabilities https://www.saab.com/newsroom/stories/2020/august/gripen-des...

Who really cares about STOL capabilities of the Gripen? Unless you're on a small island, you can build longer runways.

>Radar, note that's I'd said it's an estimate, based on the fact that it's the first GaN radar and has a wider FOV https://www.saab.com/markets/india/gripen-for-india/technolo...

Gripen E's radar being better than that of the F-35 is certainly an unique take. The AN/APG-81 has a 71.4% bigger aperture than the ES-05. While the ES-05 does benefit from reduced power consumption due to the GaN transistors, it still has significantly lower peak output power than the AN/APG-81.

Wider FOV is nice, but the AN/APG-81 can see further. AN/APG-81 is the better radar out of the two, and also offers better EW capabilities than the ES-05.

>More mature here means has been around longer in one from or another, since the Viggen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_37_Viggen

I believe the word you're looking for is "older", even though "more mature" sounds nicer.

>Supercruise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercruise

The Gripen E can only supercruise according to SAABs very own original definition of "supercruise", and so far there's been no indication that it can do so while carrying weapons.

>RCS is an overall estimate, certainly not from the front as the F35 is designed as a strike fighter, but with a smaller plane, the RCS may well be similar elsewhere https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/2021/01/07/gripen/

If Gripen was as stealthy as you like to suggest, SAAB would be shouting it from the rooftops. Yet, they aren't.

>Fast software updates https://www.saab.com/newsroom/stories/2021/january/gripen-so...

Meaningless marketing speak.

Anyway,

> Ownership in this case means having the ability to independently run the aircraft without reliance on other countries' benevolence.

Good luck operating Gripens without relying on the benevolence of the US, UK and Sweden.

gggggg5 commented on Why Finland Selected the F-35A (2021) corporalfrisk.com/2021/12... · Posted by u/sklargh

Gunnerhead · 3 years ago

Why does Brazil prefer to not buy from the US?

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

Political reasons that may or may not make sense. Brazil would perhaps benefit in many ways by aligning themselves with the US, but for a variety of reasons they simply don't want to do that.

In the fickle Brazilian political environment, not aligning with the US might end up being a rather pragmatic move. As a politician, who knows how badly your successor will fuck up those ties?

gggggg5 commented on Stripe increases fees for EU and UK-based businesses in April support.stripe.com/questi... · Posted by u/dynamicentropy

withinboredom · 3 years ago

In the case of card fraud, you don’t have a contract with the actual account owner. So taking that money results in THE COMPANY fraudulently charging a card. Again.

In the case of an actual dispute (non-shipment, etc) you do have an actual contract. However, this smells like extortion(?). You didn’t deliver on your end of the contract (deliver goods) but are penalizing the other side for your failure to deliver. It won’t go over well when you get the class-action suit, and all the little ones in-between.

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

It seems that you're missing the obvious assumption that we're talking about disputes won by the seller, i.e. friendly fraud attempts.

gggggg5 commented on Why Finland Selected the F-35A (2021) corporalfrisk.com/2021/12... · Posted by u/sklargh

lm28469 · 3 years ago

Something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matra_Durandal so about $30k, which is quite cheap

Make a hole in tarmac, until it's fixed it can't be used, by the time it's fixed it can be targeted again.

It's all nice and easy when you attack third world countries with no real army from aircraft carrier but when a high intensity conflict with a real military power begins you can be sure most of your airports will be targets, which is exactly what happened to Ukraine, not even 2 weeks in the conflict: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/russian-forces-h...

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

>Something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matra_Durandal so about $30k, which is quite cheap

Uh, how do you plan to use dumb bombs like that in a conflict like Ukraine?

That would require you to be able to fly right over the enemy airfield, they'd need to have no air defenses whatsoever.

You'll damage a runway at the cost of a pilot (probably $5M+), aircraft (at least $10M), and dumb bombs ($30k each). Putting your total price paid for thousands of dollars worth of runway damage in the tens of millions.

> when a high intensity conflict with a real military power begins you can be sure most of your airports will be targets, which is exactly what happened to Ukraine, not even 2 weeks in the conflict

That kind of damage is fixed within hours at a cost of low thousands of dollars at most. Russia can do only it using incredibly expensive standoff-range missiles, spending at the very least hundreds of thousands if not millions to punch a hole on a runway that takes a few hours to repair.

gggggg5 commented on Why Finland Selected the F-35A (2021) corporalfrisk.com/2021/12... · Posted by u/sklargh

syedkarim · 3 years ago

Tangent: Why is Brazil buying a modern fighter. Don’t they have the capacity to produce something of their own?

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

> Don’t they have the capacity to produce something of their own?

Not really, and even if they did, it might not be worth the effort. Instead they got a super attractive technology transfer deal from SAAB.

gggggg5 commented on Stripe increases fees for EU and UK-based businesses in April support.stripe.com/questi... · Posted by u/dynamicentropy

sleepyhead · 3 years ago

Yeah that is not even remotely legal in any country with decent consumer protection.

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

Why not? Could you give an example as to why this would not be legal in some country of your choice?

gggggg5 commented on Stripe increases fees for EU and UK-based businesses in April support.stripe.com/questi... · Posted by u/dynamicentropy

jermaustin1 · 3 years ago

and when it gets charged back, you have to eat the 20 again?

gggggg5 · 3 years ago

Perhaps charge a chargeback fee of 40 euros? It'll cover both of the chargeback fees you'll have to pay stripe.