Cyprus-Forum.com

[purdey]

Not all is available for all to read and see. Many Somalia pirates are now fish bait from previous engagements.

[Nikitas]

Guys,

I saw satellite photos from the Vietnam conflict and in them you could make out the straw pattern on a VCs hat. Those things are presumably more advanced now, so the naval commanders can see individual fishing boats used by the pirates. Apparently they do not see them.

What I am saying is that all this modern weaponry maybe an expensive hoax to induce national budgets to be paid to clever business men running armaments companies.

It ties in with the inability of the Apache helicopters to fly in Kossovo. Apaches are 20 million dollars a pop and supposed to be super capable. But they could not fly unless all Serb opposition was eliminated, ie all soldiers killed. Which makes the use of the expensive Apache kind of redundant.

[purdey]

They see these boats on a daily basis, most are either moved away are given a friendly few shots across the bough (I have done it myself). The problem is there are so many of them, and the majority do a very good impression of been a fishing vessel, fishing in these waters is not deemed illegal !

[Tim Drayton]

[...]

What I am saying is that all this modern weaponry maybe an expensive hoax to induce national budgets to be paid to clever business men running armaments companies.

[...]

An interesting theory. It brings to mind Eisenhower's famous reference to the "military-industrial complex" in a 1961 speech:

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/ ... ndust.html

[Kikapu]

Guys,

It ties in with the inability of the Apache helicopters to fly in Kossovo. Apaches are 20 million dollars a pop and supposed to be super capable. But they could not fly unless all Serb opposition was eliminated, ie all soldiers killed. Which makes the use of the expensive Apache kind of redundant.

I think once the Serbs shot down one of Americans' "stealth fighters", the F-117A, the West did not want to risk any helicopters in action, hence the fact that the Apaches were deemed useless in that conflict.


F-117A

[Tim Drayton]

I think once the Serbs shot down one of Americans' "stealth fighters", the F-117A, the West did not want to risk any helicopters in action, hence the fact that the Apaches were deemed useless in that conflict.


F-117A

I had a laugh when I saw them parading the wreckage of this stealth fighter through the streets of Belgrade with a placard redaing, "Sorry, we didn't know it was supposed to be invisible."

[Nikitas]

Kikapu,

Being in Greece and closer to the action, we had a fairly steady stream of news from Albania, the advanced base of the Apaches. The problems were so many they became a daily joke.

The Apaches could not fly from Italy to Albania, a distance of less than 200 miles because of the weather. They are all weather helicopters.

They could not land in Albania because the soil was too muddy and a special steel grid had to be imported. THey are all terrain helicopters.

They could not engage Serb tanks because they are vulnerable to hand held infra red missiles. So there had to be an area bombardment with some special antipersonnel shells to kill all Serb soldiers before using the Apaches.

They tried to kill the Serbs but that failed so the Apaches never saw action.

Cost on handheld missiles is about 20 000 dollars, cost of one Apache is 20 MILLION dollars.

In Iraq the Apaches were used and some were brought down by small arms and the wreckage had to be bombed to prevent the "Secrets" from falling in to the hands of whoever shot them down.

There is a joke in this super dooper weapon which is so fragile it can only be used against enemies that have been knocked out by other means.

The Apache sales people must be good, really good.

[Kikapu]

I think once the Serbs shot down one of Americans' "stealth fighters", the F-117A, the West did not want to risk any helicopters in action, hence the fact that the Apaches were deemed useless in that conflict.


F-117A

I had a laugh when I saw them parading the wreckage of this stealth fighter through the streets of Belgrade with a placard redaing, "Sorry, we didn't know it was supposed to be invisible."

I believe the explanation at the time by the Americans was, that when the F-117A opened it's bomb bays, it lost its stealthiness and was shot down. Makes sense.!

I'm sure the Chinese took some of the planes skin to understand the technology behind the "stealth's secret". Then the Chinese Embassy was bombed by the Americans, blaming on mapping error. Yeah Right.!

[Nikitas]

F117, a "clever" plane, was shot down by ballistic rockets, a "stupid" weapon with no guidance.

Which reminds me of the musings of one gunnery chief: "you put up enough shit in the sky and the plane is bound to run into it".

[Get Real!]

All the “stealth” does is to rely on its curved body parts to alter the angle of radar deflections… big deal! It minimizes detection to "some" extend but it's certainly not invisible.