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Ward, an old Team Mate of mine said he was able to score a back seat ride in a Tomcat while his team was TAD'd on the Ranger in the Med, would have been 86-87ish. I've always wondered if he was making shit up, or if it was legit. Do you recall, or did you guys ever take any Marine Recon guys up with him riding in the RIO seat as part of a Re-enlistment bonus?
Ukraine will not exist by this time next year. Every F-16 we send in is going to be destroyed from high altitude and long range by SU-57s and Mig-31s firing R-37Ms guided by datalink, and/or by S-400 missiles, if they aren't destroyed on the ground first. That's not going to look good, is it? Better to just stall, knowing from the outset that Ukraine would inevitably lose this war, and knowing that the harm they can do to Russia with their proxy has already reached its practical limits. The only way sending F-16s to Ukraine would work would be if they operate out of Poland and Romania, and if you do that, then Russia will strike the Polish and Romanian air fields, and no one wants that, hence the slow walk.
Interesting that Bronk admits that western governments deceived their people into paying for an offensive that was always certain to fail, knowing that they would not support it otherwise. That's called defrauding the public and sending our "allies" to their doom.
Having had worked as a Crew Chief in the USAF, hes 100% right. No one, outside of the circles, really ever understands all the support required for aircraft to fly reliable and safe missions over a long duration. For every pilot, theres dozens of enlisted folk doing dirty work to keep the birds in the air. Its uber complex!
I was Marine Corps infantry, and I do have an idea a little bit on the supply chain issues and maintenance requirements. While not aircraft related even ground elements have some equipment that has a huge logistical and maintenance tail. Aircraft being more complex and higher tech would understandably be exponentially bigger. I am glad the hydrazine issue was mentioned. The F-16 is the only aircraft with an APU powered by hydrazine. The one thing not mentioned is developing a culture around picking up FOD. The F-16 has a huge FOD vacuum up front, and western aircraft overall are more susceptible to FOD. Soviet era and Russian built aircraft have screens and louvres to combat FOD instead of doing FOD walks among other anti FOD methods.
I worked w alot of Aviation crews, mainly helicopters however, but from what I've heard the AF F16 was a pretty reliable fighter, requiring less maint v. Flight time than most others, like the Navy F14 Tomcats from what I heard, were maint nightmares. I think the FA18 Hornets were not quite as bad. I know in my day 1985-1994 alot of our Helo's CH46 and CH53A,D, and casket basket E models had been in service since Vietnam Era and maint. Hogs. I never got to work w the Osprey's, and as of late have had their share of problems as well. The Marine Corps had been considering bringing the super string CH47 Chinooks in to service but ultimately decided not to, mistake I think. Having been an Infantry and Special Operations Marine, Helicopters and us have sure had our share of "Mishaps " as Ward often calls our crashes lol.
Justin is hands down the most competent subject matter expert on air combat capabilities. No wonder he's in such high demand. These interviews are must watch content if you want to have a significantly better grasp of the topic.
Right guy, wrong war. This is a drone/missile/rocket/artillery war, not a smart/bomb war. Unless Ukraine can suppress enemy air defenses air power is of minimal value to supporting ground offensives. Sorry Fighter Jockeys, but if Russia’s sizable Air Force has been relegated to lobbing missiles, what are F-16s really gonna do to move the needle?
@@CorePathway I guess it boils down to how much impact can F-16s have on ground targets in contestade airspace , and that is just guesswork until the Ukrainans find out the hard way
I have always been preaching about the maintenance side of the F-16 deal because of the time frames involved. I maintained the F-16 for 20 years in the USAF and training MiG-29 fighter pilots to fly the F-16 is child's play compared to setting up a complete maintenance setup for the aircraft from literally nothing. The Soviet maintenance equipment isn't going to work on the F-16 so it isn't just hand them some F-16s after training the pilots and have a nice war. You have to set up logistics and spin up replacement parts pipelines as well as AGE to ground run the aircraft for maintenance. Justin is spot on for this problem from the maintenance side. The war will be over before you would have a fully set up cadre of Ukrainian F-16 maintainers. Never mind the fact that the Soviet thinking was to have their fighters taking off from less than ideal taxi/runway setups. They would just get their air from other locations than the standard intakes on the ground. The F-16 doesn't do that. The intake is close enough to the ground to basically be a two million dollar vacuum cleaner. We are literally talking about spinning up a complete air force from scratch. All the way down to the bases they operate from.
The approval of the F-16 isn't just about actual battle impact, it's also a HUGE sign to Putin & Co, that the west has dedicated time and money that is going to keep on going, and to put a fine point on the fact that Russia can't win. Granted a couple squadrons of Vipers on the prowl sure would help thing out though...
I would seriously doubt the F16s would be prowling I assume you mean in some type of aircraft attack mode, they will be only used in support of ground troops. Ie bomb trucks, the the air to air mode they would have to cross the ground combat line over dense ground to air assets exposing them to likely heavy losses, they will be just tossing bombs and firing off stand off weapons only.
@@piotrd.4850 one could think so, but their track record this far in utilizing whatever comes their way speaks for itself. I wouldn't argue with a force that manages to strap HARMs to a MiG and use a hacked iPad to launch them, not when it resulted in total loss of the Russian radar units.
As a retired General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin Product Support Engineer, having worked with teh Pakistani, Turkish USAF Guard Reserve F-16 units, Mr. Bronk is correct about how long it takes for the maintainers to be truly capable. Another good interview!
The job that I had would be "on site" answering real time questions by both operations and maintenance. Normally I would be with stationed with the maintenance personnel, observing debriefs, preparing the aircraft for flight, weapons loading of if a pilot had a question answering it. This would be at the launching airbase. This brings in the legality of presence. An American doing this, in this situation, might cause prison time, lost of citizenship if not sanctioned by the US Government through UASF contracting. Until the US Government allows American citizens to openly support Ukraine in this conflict with contractor type personnel the subject would be mute. That being said, if another country were to openly support the Ukrainian AF (with people in country) mindful of NATO ramifications that could be the answer. Hope this helps. @@markmonaghan2309
@@markmonaghan2309 Most people, when they think of fast jet maintenance, probably envision something slightly more intense than taking a car into the dealership at regular intervals. For every flight hour, the F-16 needs no less than 10 hours of maintenance. Here's a random example of why they can't fly a couple of missions and follow it up with service later: When you taxi an F-16 before take-off, every pilot knows to use the wheel brakes as sparingly as possible because if you don't, you might not have any brake functionality after you land. This is just one system that rerquires maintenance between every flight. There are very many others.
Always appreciate these talks with Justin. He is both knowledgeable and has the ability to present the information a digestible way for someone who is not an expert, without sacrificing authenticity. It's a rare talent
Thank you for pointing how how hard it is to support a squadron of fighters. I worked a very small part on the flightline mostly maintaining and loading weapons. It’s almost overwhelming unless you have a heritage of excellence.
". . . a heritage of excellence." Aye, there's the rub. USAF, Marine, and Navy crews have that heritage. Ukraines don't. How many generations does it take to build that heritage?
@@hlynnkeith9334Ukraine was the center of the USSR rocket and artillery corps. They also have a phenomenal technical acumen, which I'd say is a culture of excellence. With western fighters, yet? No, of course not, but you have to start somewhere. Further, I'm under the impression that Ukraine is able to hire in outside contractors to help set up logistics and maintenance systems for Western systems once they're approved and delivery is pending or underway. I believe they can do this for support either inside or outside of Ukraine. I could see contractor crews run by or even fully staffed by Western retired staff stood up and leading development of a domestic talent base. Again, this would be under contracts, not the US military. While some might be squeamish about the idea, is there any legal reason trained F-16 support crews could not be hired into an in-country contract with Ukraine? And there are alot of them out there, given the breadth of F-16 adoption. Thanks for reading, I'll hang up and look for the response. 👍
@@hlynnkeith9334 "Ukraines (sic) don't [have that heritage of excellence]." Do you have direct experience or a source to share that shows that? I would not want to waste time with an assumption if it isn't the case. At least with fuel and ordnance, I should think the ground personnel have a personal interest in proper handling.
As a retired USAF maintainer, Dr. Bronk gets it. I was privileged (and challenged) to be intimately involved in Viper conversions in Tampa, FL and then as conversion cadre at Torrejon AB, Spain. It took a lot of training and hard work to get ready for our first NATO TAC-EVAL and ORI. I'm sure that the Ukrainians have more than enough motivation and inherent skill to stand-up and maintain some F-16s. But it will not happen this year or even next year. Hell, it took us two years to get ready for our ops inspections at TJ, and three quarters (or more!) of our personnel had at least two years prior experience on Vipers stateside. We didn't have to sweat the logistics train or tech support. GD had a fully staffed tech-rep office right on the flightline. The Viper is a great jet, the Ukrainian pilots will love it! But their maintainers might have mixed feelings....it's not the easiest jet to work on. Actually, there's no such thing as an easy to maintain military jet! Tho' I hear that little SAAB jet comes pretty close! Thanx for tellin' it like it is, Justin! Keep up the good work, Ward! Gator Retired USAF Weapons "Knuckle Dragger"
Great truthful and straightforwrd analysis of what is actually going on with the F-16 program. It made me realize this is not going to be over quickly. Keep up your great work.
I worked in that factory back in late 60’s, early 70’s on the F111. In Engineering Liaison with my office on the shop mezzanine. Best view in the shop and had a bicycle to cover my territory. Loved it there.
Mooch, we love all of your guests, and they all give great insights in to military aviation we're deeply impressed by. But, IMHO, at least, Dr. Bronk has the back-to-back Moochie locked up. What a fantastic, level-headed, erudite-but-accessible analysis he provides. BZ to you both.
A new video with Justin & Ward? Drop everything! Thank you both, and Justin your POV is pure gold. I hope the Gripen elves are hard at work fashioning a couple of squadrons of them 👍
@@Jakob_DK NATO membership isn't a requirement for Ukraine to get the planes. They wouldn't care if the planes came from Kenya, as long as they can do the job without needing some unobtainium to keep operating. I don't know that Sweden (or Brazil, which I believe has a license to build) sending Gripens to Ukraine prior to formal Swedish membership in NATO is that big a deal to NATO either.
Well that was a sobering discussion, but probably necessary. I remember people not long ago going "Ukraine will have F-16's in the air by this autumn!" But yeah, the whole maintenance side of things was never really thought through. Anyways, always great to hear from Justin again. Thanks so much, Ward!
Yet another reason why this should have started last July. When the US was absolutely not even going to allow anyone to provide them with Mig-29s, much less F-16s. The total lack of a US strategy or even a plan from the admin that extends more then a month or two is really a problem.
I still don't understand why they are not being given ATACM's and any surface-to-surface missiles with more legs. Ukraine are peppering Moscow with "foreign" drones anyway, so what's the difference?
@@ytsm Because some fool without any accomplishment (other getting prestigious degrees, licking politician's boots and presiding over the Afghanistan disaster) named Jake Sullivan gets the squirts at the thought of striking Russia. When he isn't dreaming of presiding over the evacuation a 7th US embassy, setting a new world's record that will likely remain unchallenged.
@@14goldmedals Well , Canada did get one of if not the best first strike fighter , sacrificing top speed and range , but on a positive note if we get into NATO , we can do escort and you do the striking , team effort after all /cheers from Sweden
@@matso3856 In terms of speed, the F-35 carries the load internally, which means it can go at M1.6 loaded with 4 air-to-air missiles; air resistance will slow down a Gripen E carrying weapons externally (so the values would either be similar or lower for the Gripen depending of the altitude). The F-35 also has more internal fuel and according to an Israeli graph a while back, it showed a capacity of 760nm with an air-to-air load, or 1,400 km, slightly larger than the Gripen E's combat radius according to the graph of the FX-2 program in Brazil of 1,300 km with air-to-air load. In terms of the previous generation, here in Brazil this year, CRUZEX will take place, which is a local air exercise with other nations with a similar aim to Red Flag (unfortunately, without stealth fighters). The Gripen E of the Brazilian air force will have IOC in the air-to-air field until the exercise, and we'll be able to see its results against ANG F-16C/Ds, modernized Mirage 2000s, Chilean MLU F-16 and Block 50/52+ (The result of the Meteor/AESA radar/coordination with the E-99M AWACS could be used as marketing by SAAB).
“Logistics (e.g. aircraft maintenance) sets the campaign's operational limits.” -- Joint Pub 1, Joint Warfare of the U.S. Armed Forces, June 2020. Thank you, Dr. Bronk for making that transparent.
many supposed experts here in the UK appear to put so much spin on these topics that I dont know which side of my monitor to watch, When Justin speaks you feel your getting the truth as best he knows it with a corresponding slice of worry for the Warriors that he has possibly met. Thank you both.
This gentleman has just fulfilled *MY* dream of a lifetime (a backseat ride on a modern jet fighter) and he did it THREE TIMES in a 3-ish months' span. Good on you buddy, but jeez... I can't properly word how much I'm envying you right now!!!
Wow, what an information dense interview. Dr. Bronk is a terrific resource. I'm glad he is on our Western team. I just hope his input is heeded. Thank you, Ward for bringing this to us. This is why I love this channel.
Mooch, that location was also where the B24 Liberator was produced. The movie "Strategic Air Command" was filmed there with COL John Deutschendorf, singer John Denver's father, did most of the flying.
I never knew John Denver's dad was a flyer, great tid bit of history. So that explains why John was such an avid pilot. It was a sad day hearing about John crashing in his experimental plane. I grew up with all of his music.
Yes, Colonel D was actually a famous flier. That is where John got his love of aviation. The Long E-Z John was flying is a homebuild plane. You use a hotwire to cut the parts from styrofoam and then hardcoat with fiberglass for structural integrity.. I believe the NTSB said John's fuel switch was not in the normal spot and he may not have switched tanks. Yes, a sad deal.@@14goldmedals
Bronk: "Overwhelming". That was exactly my thought when visiting the Fort Worth plant in 2008. Back then there weren't many F-35s on the production line, but the F-22 and F-16 were still being produced. But the shear size of the plant, the huge investments and the historical context (having grown up reading about the plant) of the place certainly was a bit overwhelming. Had a zen moment as I realized I was walking on historic grounds (WW2 bomber production, Cold War, F-16 etc.)
Love the F-104, first & only time I've seen one (in service) was Italy as well. We were operating out of Pisa at the time, three of their F-104's zoomed over the flight line as we walked out to our jet. 1996 as well, an absolutely glorious sight.
As far as the "accounting value" of the U.S. stockpile weapons that are being sent to Ukraine, UNLESS there was ANY reasonable prospect of them being sold, we should assign them a NEGATIVE value, because Ukraine is saving the U.S. untold years of storage costs and eventual disposal costs.
Outstanding summary of the current situation in Ukraine. Thank you Justin and Ward for this honest analysis, especially around the F-16 issue. Looking forward to seeing Justin again in the near future--good luck on this year's Moochie Dr, Bronk
A swede here. I would be hsppy to see all our 100 Gripens sent to ukraine if we could share that cost with others in the west and also get a temporary solution for our own air defence. More reasonable is perhaps a partial transfer, something that zelensky actually hinted about when he visited Sweden today.
20-30 jets would be more than enough for the first year of operations 👍 Unlikely for Sweden to send anywhere near that many, at least yet - even with NATO membership. 🙃 Btw; very welcome to NATO, from Slovenia. ❤
@@erikwigelandiestad2270there is no such thing as a peaceful future. There is only future wars that have yet to come. There’s 150+ countries in the world, many have changing governments through elections or coups which change the stance of the governments. Hell, Macron is buddying up to China and is trying to ensure that if war happens in Taiwan, Europe sits it out.
Great program, Ward. You inspired me to subscribe. And in an unrelated way, I love all the music gear you have in the background. I have a couple of Strats, a Les Paul, Orange amp, and a couple of Yamaha and Korg keyboards. Gotta love that stuff.
For the life of me, I can't grasp why we are forcing Ukraine to take heavy losses with a southern frontal assault, when the obviously better option would be to use long-range munitions, both air and ground launched, to totally cut off resupply to Crimea and the southern front. The slowness of progress with the counter-offensive is our fault, not Ukraine's. I understand there are thorny issues, especially with planes, but all of those issues pale in comparison with the downsides of allowing the war to drag on indefinitely.
Seems to me the Pro-Russians were right, and NATO just wants to use UKR as expendable mass to "demilitarize" Russia. At this point, no other explanation makes sense. That even stuff like TRUCKS and DJI drones STILL need to be crowdfunded.... This is insane.
Because our strategists were incompetent, and were driven by political ambitions and projecting a facade of imminent victory, rather than any viable military strategy. Also, because there was never a viable path to victory for the Ukrainians from the outset, and the goal was to weaken Russia by sacrificing Ukraine's population. When you look at it like that, suddenly it all makes sense. Why didn't they do so with something other than a frontal assault against prepared defenses? Incompetence. That's why.
While conducting ground ops to penetrate Russian defensive line, Ukraine also constantly attack Russia rear in the occupied area. That's why they build sea drone and kept asking for more Storm Shadow, Taurus, and SCALP. Their attempt to penetrate Russian defensive line maybe is not as good as they expected, but in the same time Russia suffers huge asset lost in their rear line.
We'll launch a sustained artillery barrage that is so intense, the infantry can just walk forward and take the trenches unopposed. I've heard this plan before!
@@doomedwit1010 I heard Ukraine had did it actually. They launch a massive night artillery barrage before the offensive. However, while they launched the artillery per schedule, the spear tips for unknown reason delayed their offensive until the morning. As the result, ukraine lost element of surprise, Russia sniff their target and their route and then launch artillery on that route as Ukraine spear tips entered it. The other attempt, Ukraine spear tips took wrong route and not the one that had been cleared with artie, they were only missed a kilometer or two, but it's still heavily mined area.
Incredible hardware--thank you. Love the channel and appreciate the guests and discussion. Hopeful for a day when men's hearts can tolerate less war and appreciation for the forces that help us get there.
Dr. Bronk nailed it, I think. Even a small number of Gripens armed with Meteors would force the Russians to keep their distance while the slow process of building a more conventional Air Force around F16s takes place.
Eager? While they are undoubtedly taking notes on everything NATO related they encounter, I somehow think they’d rather win and get it done, than get some notes on F-16s and Leopards. And “appetizer”? For what main course? Poland? The Baltics? I think the Russian Army has its hands full, and even if peace came tomorrow would require some time to recover. Hell, Russia as a country might need some time. Either way, be sure NATO is taking notes as well. On Russian and on own Ukranian used equipment both.
Ward, next time Justin is in, can you ask him what he'd think about attacking through Luhansk instead which is much less defended, then moving south and getting behind all these prepared defenses in a large swoop.
I was having a boring Saturday afternoon (no air raids even today in Lutsk) until I noticed this ep. posted. Justin's right on the money with the Prigozhin clown show thing. I've lived here for almost a decade and indeed that who event as most pundits think it panned was a bit iffy, 'cos he would not have been around long after it & the OPSEC explains the "idiots" in the PANSIR's etc. With the Moochie's, I dunno what the criteria are for winning one. Man I love Pako, but I think Justins world tour and rides on fast jets etc gotta earn him some big points towards the back to back double.
oh btw, did anyone else notice Ward said "Viggen" when he meant Grippen at the 34:32min mark? I found that quite a bemusing mis-speak as it was probably what was the current Swedish AF fighter back in the day when he was in F-14's. Is there a watered down Moochie for sharp eared viewers of the chan ?🙃
Apparently Prigozhins plane has been shot down, but he has made a video in Africa recently, so this all might still pan out as really fishy. Russian news seem to be claiming Prigozhin (and Utkin) was on board, but he's supposed to be in Africa as per his latest video. Nothing's adding up at this early stage of this news! The thing to keep an eye on from our perspective here is if Putin finally really did Prigozhin in and it is not a ruse, the Wagenerites will not take kindly to that and will, seek revenge, We are hoping here in leads to civil war an d the break up of Russia and that will mean the end of the war here and they pull out the army to protect the regime. Anyone worried about the nukes, lets not forget, the USSR has 40,000, yes, 40,000 nuclear devices when it broke up. The world handled that event without incident. Russia only has 7,000 devices, that can be dealt with far easier than 40,000 the USSR had!
I would assume that most western ground training would assume that any action they would take would be predicated on air superiority. This is what happens when a military gets used to a certain paradigm.
Purely as an observer of military history, it seems when the military-industrial complex needs to fast track a program, whether it’s training or maintenance, an all-hands on deck approach has been reasonably successful. Would that apply to an F-16 ramp up for Ukraine, or are the logistics too much of a reach?
Justin just brought up a great point. The massed daylight offensives aren’t working. The western kit has generally superior optics in NVG and thermal. Why aren’t they taking advantage of this? The grunts may not have the requisite optics but they’re vehicles do. When we started sending Brands and stuff I thought the optics were going to be a game changer. Unfortunately this isn’t the case.
i heard the stuff we sent was so old it didn't have the optics. and you are still dealing with minefields that are 10 kilometers deep and 100 km wide. think about that . this will be a long slog . unless the ukrainians or someone in the west comes up with a way to traverse minefields at high speed their won't be any gamechangers. i am commited to supporting them as long as it takes. we spent 20 years in the middle east and this is way more important. for 50 years we prepared to fight against the soviets . so now we can fight the russians.
I can understand the frustration that the Ukrainians are having with American and NATO training because I spent two years as an OC/T at the National Training Center training for two years training tank and infantry companies. The honest truth is that there are no short cuts to conducting effective combined arms warfare. The worst part is that the problem often has little to do with the common Soldier. Operations break down to to incompetence and lack of experience of staffs because of how insanely complex operations are. You can train a new Soldier in a few months, and it takes years, if not a decade, to grow a good staff officer. I imagine the Ukrainian staffs have been learning a great deal during the war, but it's terrible having to learn those lessons with the blood of your own Soldiers.
True, but the doctrine that Ukraine is evolving is quite a bit different than traditional American Combined Arms Warfare. It’s not clear that American doctrine would work as well today as it has in the past.
@@grahamstrouse1165It would, but only with air power, which basically only the US can provide in large amounts against modern air defenses. Also bear in mind that the US has a much larger military than either Ukraine or Ruzzia, and this would grow substantially in wartime.
I wonder why Ukraine doesn't start an "International Air Wing" much like they have International Legions on the ground. Now that aircraft (and presumably support equipment) have been offered, I'm certain that there are many recently retired F-16 drivers and maintainers out there that would offer their services in this conflict. That would work as an initial boost to the training curve, allowing for training to happen on-site and real time during the conflict, concurrent with that happening in other countries around the world.
I was thinking along the same lines. The US Air National Guard is pretty damn big. I reckon there are more than a few mechanics in their early middle age who would be willing & able to help with the maintenance side.
@@grahamstrouse1165 I was one of those Air National Guard maintainers. I don't believe they could find enough people to ramp up an air wing or two. Saudi would pay huge tax free money to entice mechanics. Ukraine doesn't have those dollars to offer to make most people commit to the war zone.
How long can Ukraine hold back Russian terror while other nations watch? For those who have never lived under tyranny, it is impossible to imagine the horror.
If my memory is right the original F-104's were designed with the ejection system ejecting the pilot out of the bottom of the aircraft. So to eject, you had to invert the aircraft first. The design was changed some time later to eject the pilot out of the top of the aircraft.
Being a retired F-16 Ordy/Weapons Loader, I was contacted a few months ago about "helping"with this program (F-16s to Ukraine). I confirmed this was in regard to the Denmark/Netherlands plan. It required I sign a contract with Ukraine Volunteer Defense Force.
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Ward, an old Team Mate of mine said he was able to score a back seat ride in a Tomcat while his team was TAD'd on the Ranger in the Med, would have been 86-87ish.
I've always wondered if he was making shit up, or if it was legit.
Do you recall, or did you guys ever take any Marine Recon guys up with him riding in the RIO seat as part of a Re-enlistment bonus?
Ukraine will not exist by this time next year. Every F-16 we send in is going to be destroyed from high altitude and long range by SU-57s and Mig-31s firing R-37Ms guided by datalink, and/or by S-400 missiles, if they aren't destroyed on the ground first. That's not going to look good, is it? Better to just stall, knowing from the outset that Ukraine would inevitably lose this war, and knowing that the harm they can do to Russia with their proxy has already reached its practical limits. The only way sending F-16s to Ukraine would work would be if they operate out of Poland and Romania, and if you do that, then Russia will strike the Polish and Romanian air fields, and no one wants that, hence the slow walk.
Interesting that Bronk admits that western governments deceived their people into paying for an offensive that was always certain to fail, knowing that they would not support it otherwise. That's called defrauding the public and sending our "allies" to their doom.
so now you have just a single party selling your data to everyone who wants to pay for it, well done.
Ward, you ought to create a playlist on your channel with the category of “Interviews with Justin Bronk”.
Having had worked as a Crew Chief in the USAF, hes 100% right. No one, outside of the circles, really ever understands all the support required for aircraft to fly reliable and safe missions over a long duration. For every pilot, theres dozens of enlisted folk doing dirty work to keep the birds in the air. Its uber complex!
I was Marine Corps infantry, and I do have an idea a little bit on the supply chain issues and maintenance requirements. While not aircraft related even ground elements have some equipment that has a huge logistical and maintenance tail. Aircraft being more complex and higher tech would understandably be exponentially bigger.
I am glad the hydrazine issue was mentioned. The F-16 is the only aircraft with an APU powered by hydrazine. The one thing not mentioned is developing a culture around picking up FOD. The F-16 has a huge FOD vacuum up front, and western aircraft overall are more susceptible to FOD. Soviet era and Russian built aircraft have screens and louvres to combat FOD instead of doing FOD walks among other anti FOD methods.
What's stopping the Ukraininans from enlisting/hiring foreigners with F16 maintenance experience? It's not a front line fighting job.
I worked w alot of Aviation crews, mainly helicopters however, but from what I've heard the AF F16 was a pretty reliable fighter, requiring less maint v. Flight time than most others, like the Navy F14 Tomcats from what I heard, were maint nightmares. I think the FA18 Hornets were not quite as bad. I know in my day 1985-1994 alot of our Helo's CH46 and CH53A,D, and casket basket E models had been in service since Vietnam Era and maint. Hogs. I never got to work w the Osprey's, and as of late have had their share of problems as well. The Marine Corps had been considering bringing the super string CH47 Chinooks in to service but ultimately decided not to, mistake I think. Having been an Infantry and Special Operations Marine, Helicopters and us have sure had our share of "Mishaps " as Ward often calls our crashes lol.
pilots too@@petrairene
@@petrairene that is a great question. Kind of dangerous to go, but not as bad as being in a trench.
Justin is hands down the most competent subject matter expert on air combat capabilities. No wonder he's in such high demand. These interviews are must watch content if you want to have a significantly better grasp of the topic.
Well Said!
Right guy, wrong war. This is a drone/missile/rocket/artillery war, not a smart/bomb war. Unless Ukraine can suppress enemy air defenses air power is of minimal value to supporting ground offensives. Sorry Fighter Jockeys, but if Russia’s sizable Air Force has been relegated to lobbing missiles, what are F-16s really gonna do to move the needle?
@@CorePathway Dead on correct..Bad news Mooch, the days of manned aircraft are numbered. These F 16 are going to be more hassle than they're worth.
Guess we'll see, bet this doesn't age well
@@CorePathway I guess it boils down to how much impact can F-16s have on ground targets in contestade airspace , and that is just guesswork until the Ukrainans find out the hard way
Justin knows his stuff. These interviews are unmissable. Thanks Ward!
This not the news I wanted to hear
@@bk9852 Spent 3 years in a Buddhist centre with no TV or news.. It was bliss. The world carries on as it should. Amazing! ;)
@@69PhuketYou understand. Love to you ❤
@@elektrotehnik94 Aww Shucks! ;)
I have always been preaching about the maintenance side of the F-16 deal because of the time frames involved. I maintained the F-16 for 20 years in the USAF and training MiG-29 fighter pilots to fly the F-16 is child's play compared to setting up a complete maintenance setup for the aircraft from literally nothing. The Soviet maintenance equipment isn't going to work on the F-16 so it isn't just hand them some F-16s after training the pilots and have a nice war. You have to set up logistics and spin up replacement parts pipelines as well as AGE to ground run the aircraft for maintenance. Justin is spot on for this problem from the maintenance side. The war will be over before you would have a fully set up cadre of Ukrainian F-16 maintainers.
Never mind the fact that the Soviet thinking was to have their fighters taking off from less than ideal taxi/runway setups. They would just get their air from other locations than the standard intakes on the ground. The F-16 doesn't do that. The intake is close enough to the ground to basically be a two million dollar vacuum cleaner. We are literally talking about spinning up a complete air force from scratch. All the way down to the bases they operate from.
The approval of the F-16 isn't just about actual battle impact, it's also a HUGE sign to Putin & Co, that the west has dedicated time and money that is going to keep on going, and to put a fine point on the fact that Russia can't win.
Granted a couple squadrons of Vipers on the prowl sure would help thing out though...
I would seriously doubt the F16s would be prowling I assume you mean in some type of aircraft attack mode, they will be only used in support of ground troops. Ie bomb trucks, the the air to air mode they would have to cross the ground combat line over dense ground to air assets exposing them to likely heavy losses, they will be just tossing bombs and firing off stand off weapons only.
Ukraine wouldn't be asking for the aircraft if they weren't confident that they can manage that.
@@johanmetreus1268 Oh, (over)confident they are.
@@piotrd.4850 one could think so, but their track record this far in utilizing whatever comes their way speaks for itself.
I wouldn't argue with a force that manages to strap HARMs to a MiG and use a hacked iPad to launch them, not when it resulted in total loss of the Russian radar units.
Justin Bronk videos are always good.
Its always a pleasure to listen to Dr Justin Bronk, such an impressive guy. Thank god he's on our side.
lol, our side? you may not have heard the latest, but the majority of americans want aid to ukraine to end.
@@gumby2241that's not true, all sane Americans that can count support aid to Ukraine , thankfully that's the majority.
@@markmonaghan2309Still over 50% American got insane, gues Russia realy did it 😂
@@peternystrom921 I don't understand your point.
@@markmonaghan2309 O should be 50% over 🤣
As a retired General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin Product Support Engineer, having worked with teh Pakistani, Turkish USAF Guard Reserve F-16 units, Mr. Bronk is correct about how long it takes for the maintainers to be truly capable. Another good interview!
It takes even longer when you wait 12-18 months to even finalize a plan to begin training those maintainers.
I know nothing about this, at all. Would it be possible to fly a couple of missions and then transport them to Poland for a big service ?
The job that I had would be "on site" answering real time questions by both operations and maintenance. Normally I would be with stationed with the maintenance personnel, observing debriefs, preparing the aircraft for flight, weapons loading of if a pilot had a question answering it. This would be at the launching airbase. This brings in the legality of presence. An American doing this, in this situation, might cause prison time, lost of citizenship if not sanctioned by the US Government through UASF contracting. Until the US Government allows American citizens to openly support Ukraine in this conflict with contractor type personnel the subject would be mute. That being said, if another country were to openly support the Ukrainian AF (with people in country) mindful of NATO ramifications that could be the answer. Hope this helps.
@@markmonaghan2309
@@markmonaghan2309 Most people, when they think of fast jet maintenance, probably envision something slightly more intense than taking a car into the dealership at regular intervals. For every flight hour, the F-16 needs no less than 10 hours of maintenance.
Here's a random example of why they can't fly a couple of missions and follow it up with service later:
When you taxi an F-16 before take-off, every pilot knows to use the wheel brakes as sparingly as possible because if you don't, you might not have any brake functionality after you land.
This is just one system that rerquires maintenance between every flight. There are very many others.
@@effsixteenblock50 thank you for your time. Thanks for clearing that up for me .
Thank you Justin and Ward. We really appreciate your time and effort you put in to explain the situation to us. Slava Ukraine
Always appreciate these talks with Justin. He is both knowledgeable and has the ability to present the information a digestible way for someone who is not an expert, without sacrificing authenticity. It's a rare talent
Thank you for pointing how how hard it is to support a squadron of fighters. I worked a very small part on the flightline mostly maintaining and loading weapons. It’s almost overwhelming unless you have a heritage of excellence.
". . . a heritage of excellence." Aye, there's the rub. USAF, Marine, and Navy crews have that heritage. Ukraines don't. How many generations does it take to build that heritage?
@@hlynnkeith9334Ukraine was the center of the USSR rocket and artillery corps. They also have a phenomenal technical acumen, which I'd say is a culture of excellence. With western fighters, yet? No, of course not, but you have to start somewhere.
Further, I'm under the impression that Ukraine is able to hire in outside contractors to help set up logistics and maintenance systems for Western systems once they're approved and delivery is pending or underway. I believe they can do this for support either inside or outside of Ukraine. I could see contractor crews run by or even fully staffed by Western retired staff stood up and leading development of a domestic talent base. Again, this would be under contracts, not the US military. While some might be squeamish about the idea, is there any legal reason trained F-16 support crews could not be hired into an in-country contract with Ukraine? And there are alot of them out there, given the breadth of F-16 adoption.
Thanks for reading, I'll hang up and look for the response. 👍
@@hlynnkeith9334 "Ukraines (sic) don't [have that heritage of excellence]." Do you have direct experience or a source to share that shows that? I would not want to waste time with an assumption if it isn't the case. At least with fuel and ordnance, I should think the ground personnel have a personal interest in proper handling.
As a retired USAF maintainer, Dr. Bronk gets it. I was privileged (and challenged) to be intimately involved in Viper conversions in Tampa, FL and then as conversion cadre at Torrejon AB, Spain. It took a lot of training and hard work to get ready for our first NATO TAC-EVAL and ORI. I'm sure that the Ukrainians have more than enough motivation and inherent skill to stand-up and maintain some F-16s. But it will not happen this year or even next year. Hell, it took us two years to get ready for our ops inspections at TJ, and three quarters (or more!) of our personnel had at least two years prior experience on Vipers stateside. We didn't have to sweat the logistics train or tech support. GD had a fully staffed tech-rep office right on the flightline.
The Viper is a great jet, the Ukrainian pilots will love it! But their maintainers might have mixed feelings....it's not the easiest jet to work on. Actually, there's no such thing as an easy to maintain military jet! Tho' I hear that little SAAB jet comes pretty close! Thanx for tellin' it like it is, Justin! Keep up the good work, Ward!
Gator
Retired USAF Weapons
"Knuckle Dragger"
Always a pleasure to listen to what the calm, considered and competent Dr Justin Bronk has to say.👍
Great truthful and straightforwrd analysis of what is actually going on with the F-16 program. It made me realize this is not going to be over quickly. Keep up your great work.
Ward, we very much appreciate the excellent information the two of you provided in this episode! Please keep going! Slava Ukraine!! UA!!
Exellent analysis as always, thanks Ward and Justin, keep it coming!!
I worked in that factory back in late 60’s, early 70’s on the F111. In Engineering Liaison with my office on the shop mezzanine. Best view in the shop and had a bicycle to cover my territory. Loved it there.
Mooch, we love all of your guests, and they all give great insights in to military aviation we're deeply impressed by. But, IMHO, at least, Dr. Bronk has the back-to-back Moochie locked up. What a fantastic, level-headed, erudite-but-accessible analysis he provides. BZ to you both.
Good to see Dr. Bronk back on air.
It's always a pleasure to see both of you. 👋👍
A new video with Justin & Ward? Drop everything! Thank you both, and Justin your POV is pure gold.
I hope the Gripen elves are hard at work fashioning a couple of squadrons of them 👍
Sweden needs to be in Nato to give fighter planes. They are not yet in Nato
@@Jakob_DK NATO membership isn't a requirement for Ukraine to get the planes. They wouldn't care if the planes came from Kenya, as long as they can do the job without needing some unobtainium to keep operating. I don't know that Sweden (or Brazil, which I believe has a license to build) sending Gripens to Ukraine prior to formal Swedish membership in NATO is that big a deal to NATO either.
@@paulbade3566
Explain that to the politicians in Sweden, they have strong feelings about becoming a Nato member.
Much better perspective and analysis than we evercget from the mainstream media. Thank you Justin and Ward!
Well that was a sobering discussion, but probably necessary. I remember people not long ago going "Ukraine will have F-16's in the air by this autumn!" But yeah, the whole maintenance side of things was never really thought through. Anyways, always great to hear from Justin again. Thanks so much, Ward!
Had 500 days to solve the issues, Americans just kept thinking it's too early to start.
Yet another reason why this should have started last July. When the US was absolutely not even going to allow anyone to provide them with Mig-29s, much less F-16s. The total lack of a US strategy or even a plan from the admin that extends more then a month or two is really a problem.
@@k53847Once you see Biden's history of being a Soviet mole, it will all make sense.
I still don't understand why they are not being given ATACM's and any surface-to-surface missiles with more legs.
Ukraine are peppering Moscow with "foreign" drones anyway, so what's the difference?
@@ytsm Because some fool without any accomplishment (other getting prestigious degrees, licking politician's boots and presiding over the Afghanistan disaster) named Jake Sullivan gets the squirts at the thought of striking Russia. When he isn't dreaming of presiding over the evacuation a 7th US embassy, setting a new world's record that will likely remain unchallenged.
Thank you for explaining the budget constraints.
The general news hasn't bothered to tell that part of the story.
I can listen to him forever ! What a smart young man! Gripen is for sure the best short term option that should be pursued.
I wish Canada would've bought the Gripen. It is perfect for our needs and terrain.
@@14goldmedals Well , Canada did get one of if not the best first strike fighter , sacrificing top speed and range , but on a positive note if we get into NATO , we can do escort and you do the striking , team effort after all /cheers from Sweden
@@matso3856 nobody knows when our brain dead PM will ever get the F-35s bought.
@@matso3856 In terms of speed, the F-35 carries the load internally, which means it can go at M1.6 loaded with 4 air-to-air missiles; air resistance will slow down a Gripen E carrying weapons externally (so the values would either be similar or lower for the Gripen depending of the altitude). The F-35 also has more internal fuel and according to an Israeli graph a while back, it showed a capacity of 760nm with an air-to-air load, or 1,400 km, slightly larger than the Gripen E's combat radius according to the graph of the FX-2 program in Brazil of 1,300 km with air-to-air load.
In terms of the previous generation, here in Brazil this year, CRUZEX will take place, which is a local air exercise with other nations with a similar aim to Red Flag (unfortunately, without stealth fighters). The Gripen E of the Brazilian air force will have IOC in the air-to-air field until the exercise, and we'll be able to see its results against ANG F-16C/Ds, modernized Mirage 2000s, Chilean MLU F-16 and Block 50/52+ (The result of the Meteor/AESA radar/coordination with the E-99M AWACS could be used as marketing by SAAB).
Always a pleasure to hear from Justin Bronk!
“Logistics (e.g. aircraft maintenance) sets the campaign's operational limits.” -- Joint Pub 1, Joint Warfare of the U.S. Armed Forces, June 2020. Thank you, Dr. Bronk for making that transparent.
Justin sees the extreme large picture of things and knows how to dicuss/explain them, in very simple terms. Makes it all sound so very logical.
Fantastic information. Justin is incredibly knowledgeable and articulate.
many supposed experts here in the UK appear to put so much spin on these topics that I dont know which side of my monitor to watch, When Justin speaks you feel your getting the truth as best he knows it with a corresponding slice of worry for the Warriors that he has possibly met. Thank you both.
Justin is an amazing resource. I’m very appreciative Ward, thank you!! You’ve become mainstream journalism
This gentleman has just fulfilled *MY* dream of a lifetime (a backseat ride on a modern jet fighter) and he did it THREE TIMES in a 3-ish months' span.
Good on you buddy, but jeez... I can't properly word how much I'm envying you right now!!!
I was just asking myself this morning, "Where has Justin Bronk been?" Ideal timing with things getting bogged down right now.
Justin is so enlightening.
What a great interview Ward.
Always watch Mooch's youtube videos 3 or 4 x when this chap Justin is present. Great fact finding teller.
Dr. Justin B. Is a tremendous asset to your series Mooch, simply brilliant! You gotta get him back soon! Cheers
Wow, what an information dense interview. Dr. Bronk is a terrific resource. I'm glad he is on our Western team. I just hope his input is heeded. Thank you, Ward for bringing this to us. This is why I love this channel.
Information overload. Great Intel! I will be watching again to try to comprehend all. Thanks as always.
Mooch, that location was also where the B24 Liberator was produced. The movie "Strategic Air Command" was filmed there with COL John Deutschendorf, singer John Denver's father, did most of the flying.
I never knew John Denver's dad was a flyer, great tid bit of history. So that explains why John was such an avid pilot. It was a sad day hearing about John crashing in his experimental plane. I grew up with all of his music.
Yes, Colonel D was actually a famous flier. That is where John got his love of aviation. The Long E-Z John was flying is a homebuild plane. You use a hotwire to cut the parts from styrofoam and then hardcoat with fiberglass for structural integrity.. I believe the NTSB said John's fuel switch was not in the normal spot and he may not have switched tanks. Yes, a sad deal.@@14goldmedals
Thank you for bringing up Justin again, it's always a pleasure to hear his insights, this one about the F-16s is particularly valuable!
Wonderful talk, as usual. Many thanks to Ward and Justin. Expert analysis.
Bronk: "Overwhelming". That was exactly my thought when visiting the Fort Worth plant in 2008. Back then there weren't many F-35s on the production line, but the F-22 and F-16 were still being produced. But the shear size of the plant, the huge investments and the historical context (having grown up reading about the plant) of the place certainly was a bit overwhelming. Had a zen moment as I realized I was walking on historic grounds (WW2 bomber production, Cold War, F-16 etc.)
That was (again) exquisite, thanks you both. I guess Paco has to up his game ... Good for us viewers/subscribers ;-)
YEAH!!!! Justin Bronk is back!!!
Great discussion and a real view on the capability of the systems required
justin bronk oozes knowledge i feel like he could lecture about moldy carpet and be engaging
Always first rate programming. Thank you.
Thanks Ward, and Justin. Excellent analysis. I always look forward to these.
Love the analysis on this channel!
Love the F-104, first & only time I've seen one (in service) was Italy as well. We were operating out of Pisa at the time, three of their F-104's zoomed over the flight line as we walked out to our jet. 1996 as well, an absolutely glorious sight.
The Italians had F-104's in Sigonella, Sicily as well. Watched them take off and landing there all the time.
Seriously impressive analysis. Mooch winner for sure. Cheers
Great as always from Dr. Bronk!
Ridiculously good analysis ... outstanding .. thx
Dr. Justin Bronk deserve a billion likes.
Another excellent, level-headed Justin episode - many thanks.
Why is Brock so diametrical opposite of guys like Douglas MacGregor...he's selling the party line
Holy Cow ! Who is this guy ? The access - the experience-base knowledge - impressive ! Excellent episode.
Always an amazing interview!
Impressive and informative, Dr Justin explains things well!
As far as the "accounting value" of the U.S. stockpile weapons that are being sent to Ukraine, UNLESS there was ANY reasonable prospect of them being sold, we should assign them a NEGATIVE value, because Ukraine is saving the U.S. untold years of storage costs and eventual disposal costs.
Outstanding summary of the current situation in Ukraine. Thank you Justin and Ward for this honest analysis, especially around the F-16 issue. Looking forward to seeing Justin again in the near future--good luck on this year's Moochie Dr, Bronk
Excellent program. And, those Saabs look like such a good fit for Ukraine - and maybe even Taiwan.
Thanks! Sobering and informative.
Thanks for the support!
another top grade Justin interview thanks Ward
This is perhaps the best analysis I have seen . Thanks !
Thank you.
Awesome AGAIN. Justin is the man for anything aviation related! And Perun (another channel), is the man for ground based stuff for Ukraine war👍👍
Thank you both - brilliant analysis. 😊
A swede here. I would be hsppy to see all our 100 Gripens sent to ukraine if we could share that cost with others in the west and also get a temporary solution for our own air defence. More reasonable is perhaps a partial transfer, something that zelensky actually hinted about when he visited Sweden today.
Why? What does Sweden owe to Ukraine?
20-30 jets would be more than enough for the first year of operations 👍
Unlikely for Sweden to send anywhere near that many, at least yet - even with NATO membership. 🙃
Btw; very welcome to NATO, from Slovenia. ❤
Thank you Sweden for the RBS-70 and other excellent stuff provided to Ukraine. Norway will join the crowdfunding ❤
@@ScoobyDooby530a peaceful future! Hard to put a monetary value on ….
@@erikwigelandiestad2270there is no such thing as a peaceful future. There is only future wars that have yet to come.
There’s 150+ countries in the world, many have changing governments through elections or coups which change the stance of the governments. Hell, Macron is buddying up to China and is trying to ensure that if war happens in Taiwan, Europe sits it out.
Great program, Ward. You inspired me to subscribe. And in an unrelated way, I love all the music gear you have in the background. I have a couple of Strats, a Les Paul, Orange amp, and a couple of Yamaha and Korg keyboards. Gotta love that stuff.
Awesome, thank you!
Fabulous content from you and Justin as always!
Thanks.
Great information for a civilian sponge. Thanks!
If Sweden wouldn’t have Turkey and Hungary always jeopardizing NATO membership as Putins friends, JAS could be more available for Ukraine!
I have to say this is such an excellent video. Great host, guests and info. Well done
For the life of me, I can't grasp why we are forcing Ukraine to take heavy losses with a southern frontal assault, when the obviously better option would be to use long-range munitions, both air and ground launched, to totally cut off resupply to Crimea and the southern front. The slowness of progress with the counter-offensive is our fault, not Ukraine's. I understand there are thorny issues, especially with planes, but all of those issues pale in comparison with the downsides of allowing the war to drag on indefinitely.
Seems to me the Pro-Russians were right, and NATO just wants to use UKR as expendable mass to "demilitarize" Russia.
At this point, no other explanation makes sense.
That even stuff like TRUCKS and DJI drones STILL need to be crowdfunded.... This is insane.
Because our strategists were incompetent, and were driven by political ambitions and projecting a facade of imminent victory, rather than any viable military strategy. Also, because there was never a viable path to victory for the Ukrainians from the outset, and the goal was to weaken Russia by sacrificing Ukraine's population. When you look at it like that, suddenly it all makes sense. Why didn't they do so with something other than a frontal assault against prepared defenses? Incompetence. That's why.
While conducting ground ops to penetrate Russian defensive line, Ukraine also constantly attack Russia rear in the occupied area. That's why they build sea drone and kept asking for more Storm Shadow, Taurus, and SCALP.
Their attempt to penetrate Russian defensive line maybe is not as good as they expected, but in the same time Russia suffers huge asset lost in their rear line.
We'll launch a sustained artillery barrage that is so intense, the infantry can just walk forward and take the trenches unopposed.
I've heard this plan before!
@@doomedwit1010 I heard Ukraine had did it actually. They launch a massive night artillery barrage before the offensive. However, while they launched the artillery per schedule, the spear tips for unknown reason delayed their offensive until the morning. As the result, ukraine lost element of surprise, Russia sniff their target and their route and then launch artillery on that route as Ukraine spear tips entered it.
The other attempt, Ukraine spear tips took wrong route and not the one that had been cleared with artie, they were only missed a kilometer or two, but it's still heavily mined area.
Our Justin is a very busy guy, impressive listening to his take on things, I expect others are doing just that 🤔👍
Excellence as always!
Incredible hardware--thank you. Love the channel and appreciate the guests and discussion. Hopeful for a day when men's hearts can tolerate less war and appreciation for the forces that help us get there.
Dr. Bronk nailed it, I think. Even a small number of Gripens armed with Meteors would force the Russians to keep their distance while the slow process of building a more conventional Air Force around F16s takes place.
I have a feeling many Russian military are eager to go up against NATO wonder weapons...I mean those Leopard IIs made a great appetizer.
Eager?
While they are undoubtedly taking notes on everything NATO related they encounter, I somehow think they’d rather win and get it done, than get some notes on F-16s and Leopards.
And “appetizer”? For what main course? Poland? The Baltics? I think the Russian Army has its hands full, and even if peace came tomorrow would require some time to recover. Hell, Russia as a country might need some time.
Either way, be sure NATO is taking notes as well. On Russian and on own Ukranian used equipment both.
Best analysis I've heard so far.
Ward, next time Justin is in, can you ask him what he'd think about attacking through Luhansk instead which is much less defended, then moving south and getting behind all these prepared defenses in a large swoop.
Sshhhhh .. The Russians are listening.
Why don't you call up Zeluzhny, I'm sure he'll take your advice aboard.
Another great episode. Thanks for sharing 👍
Thanks, Ward. Tell Justin, that when your struggling to stay alive, you can't win too well, there isn't such a thing.
Amen. Ruck Fussia
Just re-Watched WW2 in Color and couldn't help but notice a young J-Bronk made a few appearances..... very cool
I was having a boring Saturday afternoon (no air raids even today in Lutsk) until I noticed this ep. posted. Justin's right on the money with the Prigozhin clown show thing. I've lived here for almost a decade and indeed that who event as most pundits think it panned was a bit iffy, 'cos he would not have been around long after it & the OPSEC explains the "idiots" in the PANSIR's etc. With the Moochie's, I dunno what the criteria are for winning one. Man I love Pako, but I think Justins world tour and rides on fast jets etc gotta earn him some big points towards the back to back double.
oh btw, did anyone else notice Ward said "Viggen" when he meant Grippen at the 34:32min mark? I found that quite a bemusing mis-speak as it was probably what was the current Swedish AF fighter back in the day when he was in F-14's. Is there a watered down Moochie for sharp eared viewers of the chan ?🙃
Apparently Prigozhins plane has been shot down, but he has made a video in Africa recently, so this all might still pan out as really fishy. Russian news seem to be claiming Prigozhin (and Utkin) was on board, but he's supposed to be in Africa as per his latest video. Nothing's adding up at this early stage of this news! The thing to keep an eye on from our perspective here is if Putin finally really did Prigozhin in and it is not a ruse, the Wagenerites will not take kindly to that and will, seek revenge, We are hoping here in leads to civil war an d the break up of Russia and that will mean the end of the war here and they pull out the army to protect the regime. Anyone worried about the nukes, lets not forget, the USSR has 40,000, yes, 40,000 nuclear devices when it broke up. The world handled that event without incident. Russia only has 7,000 devices, that can be dealt with far easier than 40,000 the USSR had!
I would assume that most western ground training would assume that any action they would take would be predicated on air superiority. This is what happens when a military gets used to a certain paradigm.
I was looking forward to listening to you Two:)
8:24 this aged well
Incredibly insightful analysis. Subscribed 👍
Purely as an observer of military history, it seems when the military-industrial complex needs to fast track a program, whether it’s training or maintenance, an all-hands on deck approach has been reasonably successful. Would that apply to an F-16 ramp up for Ukraine, or are the logistics too much of a reach?
Justin just brought up a great point. The massed daylight offensives aren’t working. The western kit has generally superior optics in NVG and thermal. Why aren’t they taking advantage of this? The grunts may not have the requisite optics but they’re vehicles do. When we started sending Brands and stuff I thought the optics were going to be a game changer. Unfortunately this isn’t the case.
i heard the stuff we sent was so old it didn't have the optics. and you are still dealing with minefields that are 10 kilometers deep and 100 km wide. think about that . this will be a long slog . unless the ukrainians or someone in the west comes up with a way to traverse minefields at high speed their won't be any gamechangers. i am commited to supporting them as long as it takes. we spent 20 years in the middle east and this is way more important. for 50 years we prepared to fight against the soviets . so now we can fight the russians.
I can understand the frustration that the Ukrainians are having with American and NATO training because I spent two years as an OC/T at the National Training Center training for two years training tank and infantry companies. The honest truth is that there are no short cuts to conducting effective combined arms warfare. The worst part is that the problem often has little to do with the common Soldier. Operations break down to to incompetence and lack of experience of staffs because of how insanely complex operations are. You can train a new Soldier in a few months, and it takes years, if not a decade, to grow a good staff officer. I imagine the Ukrainian staffs have been learning a great deal during the war, but it's terrible having to learn those lessons with the blood of your own Soldiers.
True, but the doctrine that Ukraine is evolving is quite a bit different than traditional American Combined Arms Warfare. It’s not clear that American doctrine would work as well today as it has in the past.
@@grahamstrouse1165It would, but only with air power, which basically only the US can provide in large amounts against modern air defenses. Also bear in mind that the US has a much larger military than either Ukraine or Ruzzia, and this would grow substantially in wartime.
Paco deserves a Moochie also, but I think the good Dr. deserves the back to back!!!! Lets get Paco the following year.
Finally, seeing Justin again. Been too long!
YES! More Justin!
I wonder why Ukraine doesn't start an "International Air Wing" much like they have International Legions on the ground. Now that aircraft (and presumably support equipment) have been offered, I'm certain that there are many recently retired F-16 drivers and maintainers out there that would offer their services in this conflict. That would work as an initial boost to the training curve, allowing for training to happen on-site and real time during the conflict, concurrent with that happening in other countries around the world.
I was thinking along the same lines. The US Air National Guard is pretty damn big. I reckon there are more than a few mechanics in their early middle age who would be willing & able to help with the maintenance side.
They need people who can fly them in the air not drive them on the ground.
@@heybabycometobutthead Badoom TSS! Alright folks, Heybaby will be on stage here all week, come back and enjoy. Don't forget to tip your waitress!
@@grahamstrouse1165 I was one of those Air National Guard maintainers. I don't believe they could find enough people to ramp up an air wing or two. Saudi would pay huge tax free money to entice mechanics. Ukraine doesn't have those dollars to offer to make most people commit to the war zone.
Godwilling
Sorry, Hozer! The Moochie goes to Justin, who just knocked this one out of the park! Ho-o-ome RUN!
Oi mate! Why don't I get to get rides in fighterjets!
Very much deserved Justin!
Hey Mooch, thanks for mentioning the F-104. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that airplane!
How long can Ukraine hold back Russian terror while other nations watch? For those who have never lived under tyranny, it is impossible to imagine the horror.
I agree and I understand their frustration, they're witnessing their history and culture being eradicated in the occupied areas.
They've clearly demonstrated that once given the tools, they can hold back the Russians on their own incredibly well...
If my memory is right the original F-104's were designed with the ejection system ejecting the pilot out of the bottom of the aircraft. So to eject, you had to invert the aircraft first. The design was changed some time later to eject the pilot out of the top of the aircraft.
Being a retired F-16 Ordy/Weapons Loader, I was contacted a few months ago about "helping"with this program (F-16s to Ukraine). I confirmed this was in regard to the Denmark/Netherlands plan. It required I sign a contract with Ukraine Volunteer Defense Force.