FReeper Foxhole - Military Related News in Review

Good afternoon pippin and bentfeather.

BOOM!

LOL. You could have really shortened this story for me. :)

Hi, Sam!

Thanks Johnny for your Air Power profiles.

Good Morning Pippin.

Great post today snippy we love the info on what the troops are doing. The media seems to have forgotten that they are still over there.

Current Military News
Reunited

Wesley Peppers, 5, holds a sign as he sits on the shoulders of his dad, Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Peppers, Wednesday, May 7, 2003, at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., as they wait for the plane carrying 'mom' and about 250 members of the 82nd Airborne Division returning from duty in Iraq. (AP Photo/Bob Jordan)

Capt. Shawn Stanley is reunited with his daughters, Kaylynn, 11-months, left, and Taliyah, 5, Friday, May 9, 2003, at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., after he and about 100 members of the 18th Airborne Corps returned from duty in Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Bob Jordan)

Capt. Scott Rooks, middle, is reunited with his son Austin, 6-months, left, and daughter Maelyn, 4, right, Friday, May 9, 2003, at Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

Capt. Kathleen Connors, right, holds a bouquet of roses as she is reunited with her husband, Capt. Chris Walls, left, Friday, May 9, 2003, at Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

Current Military News
National Guard

A Texas National Guard member inspected vehicles Thursday May 1, 2003 at the Bridge of Americas in El Paso, Texas. Since 1989 the U.S. Customs Service has worked with the Texas National Guard at Texas ports of entry under the 'Operation Guardian' program where they disassemble drug smuggling compartments, operated non-intrusive inspectional equipment and served as a force multiplier for the U.S. Customs Service. The program is scheduled to be phased out Sept. 31, 2004. (AP Photo/Bobbie Hernandez)

A group of rescue workers from Benton County, Ark., take a break after searching the National Guard Armory behind them for tornado victims in Pierce City, Mo., Monday, May 5, 2003. The building served as a designated tornado shelter by the town. The storm is blamed for at least 32 deaths in Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee, eight others are still missing in Pierce City. (AP Photo/John S. Stewart)

Female fighter pilots from the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing that flew in combat missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom walk together down the flightline at an undisclosed forward deployed air base in the Middle East, May 3, 2003. L-R: 1st Lt. Julie 'Timber' Ayres, Capt. Mary 'Ginger' Melfi, and Capt. Tally 'Vixen' Parham. Ayres and Melfi, from the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of Seymour Johnson A.F.B., North Carolina, are weapons system officers on the F-15E Strike Eagle. Parham, from the 157th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of McEntire, South Carolina, is a fighter pilot on the F-16CJ and is part of the S.C. Air National Guard. The 379th AEW is credited with flying 3,440 sorties and delivering over 1,500 tons of ordnance during the combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Picture taken May 3, 2003. REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Derrick C. Goode

Pfc. Brandon Williamson, of Barboursville, Ky., a member of the Kentucky Army National Guard, watches over the crowd attending the day of races at Churchill Downs on Friday, May 2, 2003, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Sergeant Kenny Roy, with the 935th National Guard unit, shows a little humor May 7, 2003 as he takes a break from helping store owners salvage what is left of their stock from damaged shops after a May 4 tornado that hit the small town of Pierce City, Missouri. Violent spring storms continue to plague the midwest and eastern states of the U.S. REUTERS/John Sommers II

Members of the Missouri National Guard salvage items from their armory at Pierce City, Mo., Wednesday, May 7, 2003, after it was destroyed by a tornado Sunday, May. 4. Members of the unit are taking personal leave to help the town clean up before their scheduled deployment to the Middle East May 10. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Mitchell Merwin greets his mother Kathy Wagner at a reunion for members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard 128th Air Refueling Wing at Mitchell Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 9, 2003. Merwin arrived at Mitchell in one of two KC135R refueling planes deployed to the Middle East for the U.S.-led war against Iraq. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson

U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Jeff Czarnecki walks off the tarmac at Mitchell Field with his children Jacob, 3, and Rita, 4, after returning with the Wisconsin Air National Guard 128th Air Refueling Wing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 9, 2003. Eight-year-old daughter Rebekah (L) runs along side. Czarnecki was onboard one of two returning KC135R refueling planes deployed to the Middle East for the U.S.-led war against Iraq. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson

Master Sgt. Bob Saugling, center, is greeted by his twin-grand daughters Reland-Mary, left, and Delaney Saugling after returning with the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard to Willow Grove Naval Air Station near Horsham, Pa., Saturday, May 10, 2003. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)

Today's classic warship, SMS Scharnhorst

Scharnhorst class armored cruiser
Displacement. 11,600 t.
Lenght. 449'9"
Beam. 71'
Draft. 25'
Speed. 22.5 kt.
Complement. 850
Armament. 8 8.2", 6 5.9", 20 3.4", 4 17.7" tt.

SMS Scharnhorst, a 11,616-ton armored cruiser built at Hamburg, Germany, was commissioned in October 1907. After her initial service, she generally was assigned abroad.

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, Scharnhorst was the flagship of the German East Asiatic Squadron. For nearly five months, she and her consorts in the squadron led by Vice Admiral Graf von Spee conducted a campaign in the Pacific ocean against Germany's enemies. This included a lopsided victory over a British cruiser force, under Rear Admiral Cradock, in the Battle of Coronel, off the west coast of South America on 1 November 1914. In just 40 minutes the British armored cruisers HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth were sent to the bottom, along with 1400 men, including Admiral Cradock.

Five weeks later, on 8 December 1914, von Spee's squadron encountered a greatly superior British force, including the battlecruisers HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible, when it attempted to attack Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands. In the running gunfire action that followed, SMS Scharnhorst was sunk with Admiral Graf von Spee and her entire crew.

Y'all may have noticed that for the past few weeks I have ocasionally ridiculed a french ship in "Today's classic warship". I originally intended to do the same with some german ships, however the german ships had a rather nasty habit of fighting to the end. It's kind of hard to ridicule a ship that goes down with guns blazing. Besides, german ships look good, unlike those ridiculous french ships.

Thanks for finding time for us these days when you can with your new promotion...big shot. *grin*

You did a great job ridiculing the
French, we'll let you pass on the Germans. :)

Thanks for the homecoming pics. I hope the media continues taking the photos as our folks continue coming home!

Thanks aomagrat.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau of WWII were pretty good looking Battle Cruisers, Germany has never really been a Military Sea power and they've always do best with their U-boats.

Joy, joy, joy! Thanks so much SAM for the wonderful pictures.

Foxbat Hunting

One of the sidelights to fighter operations in the Middle East during the 1970s and 80s centered around the repeated Israeli attempts to counter MiG-25 'Foxbat' operations - both the fighter and reconnaissance versions of this high-flying aircraft were operated within this time frame by the IDFAF's Arab opponents.

The first MiG-25 operations in the region were undertaken by a detachment of Soviet Air Force recce MiG-25R 'Foxbat-Bs', deployed to Egypt in October 1971 - their objective was to reconnoitre Israeli positions in the wake of the War of Attrition. Following a number of sorties along the Suez Canal, a MiG-25R made a provocative long-range overflight of Israel on 10 October which the IDFAF were unable to counter. However, when a Soviet 'Foxbat' attempted a repeat overflight on 6 November the Israelis were ready with a flight of stripped-down F-4Es, armed with Sparrows.

The MiG was attacked in a high-altitude snap attack - reportedly the F-4Es fired Sparrow missiles in a high-angle climb from 44,000 ft - head-on at the 'Foxbat', which was cruising at 76,000. What apparently let the attack down was that the proximity fuzz delay on the Sparrows (probably late AIM-7E models) could not cope with the Mach 3 speed of the 'Foxbat', and by the time they detonated, the MiG was out of their lethal radius.
Nevertheless, it was undoubtedly a sobering experience for the Soviet MiG-25 crews to see missiles tracking them at that height for the very first time.

Only two subsequent missions were flown (in March and May 1972), and these overflew the Sinai rather than Israel itself. It is believed that the photographs taken in these missions were later provided to the Egyptians, who found them invaluable in their planning for the 1973 War.

The Soviet 'Foxbats' were withdrawn in July 1972, only to return in the autumn of the following year after the cessation of the 1973 war. These aircraft would not penetrate Israeli airspace again, however, an as Egyptian relations with Moscow deteriorated, the detachment moved to Syria. There, both fighter and recce 'Foxbats' continued to fly regularly, and whilst originally a purely Soviet deployment, it eventually took on a Syrian component - the aircraft carried Syrian markings. Despite their 'arabification', the MiG-25s remained dependent on Soviet advisors and logistics support throughout - indeed, Syria's remaining ' Foxbat' are still reportedly maintained by Russian engineers today.

The Israelis were unable to counter the Syrian MiG-25 'Foxbat-A' fighters until the introduction of the F-15A into service. They then decided to 'defang' the Syrian 'Foxbat' threat once and for all by drawing them into a peacetime battle with F-15s. On 13 February 1981, two Israeli RF-4Es flew a high-altitude reconnaissance mission over the Lebanon to report on renewed Syrian offensive action. The Israelis though that this mission was likely to evoke a Syrian response, and sure enough two MiG-25s were scrambled and climbed after the RF-4s.
However, as they entered firing range on the rapidly fleeing Phantom IIs, they found that their targets had started to both dispense chaff and send out jamming signals from their ECM pods - a combination of the two had effectively obliterated the MiG-25s' radar picture.
Meanwhile, a pair of patrolling F-15As that had been vectored onto the Syrian fighters by either an E-2C or ground-based radar, popped out of the clouds undetected and fired AIM-7F Sparrow AAMs at the 'blind' 'Foxbats'.
One of the MiG-25s was destroyed, but the other escaped to retell the tale. Despite this loss, another MiG-25 attack was staged against RF-4Es over the Bekkaa Valley on 29 July 1981, and this again resulted in another 'Foxbat' falling victim to escorting F-15As.

Meanwhile, Syrian recce MiG-25s, which were capable of achieving faster speed and flying at higher altitudes than the fighter version, continued to overfly the Lebanon until 31 August 1983 when one was damaged by a modified Israeli HAWK SAM and forced down into the clutches of a waiting F-15A.

IAF Lockheed Martin F-16i with conformal fuel cells

From Photonics.com

Elbit to Supply F-16I Head-Up Displays El-Op Electro-optics Industries, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd., will supply Lockheed Martin with head-up displays for the Israeli air force's F-16I aircraft. The wide-field-of-view systems will employ advanced technologies based on the company's experience in the design and construction of more than 2000 displays for a variety of aircraft. Lockheed Martin's order is expected to exceed $7 million over four years.

Delivery of F-16I -July 2003

Thanks for the story on the FoxBats Light speed.

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To be removed from this list, please send me a blank private reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line! Thanks! Jen

Hi everyone. Snippy, I hope to be back later to read your terrific thread. My new Dell computer arrived today and I have to set it up before I get back to the Foxhole. Tired of all the problems I've had with my current machine and monitor! Grrrrr! See y'all later, I hope.

Good afternoon Jen.

I'm jealous.

Dudette, me too!!!