Political Crossfire Forums

I don't think Iran is intrinsically dumb at all. But with the photoshopping and the fiberglass its hard to mentally elevate them above banana republic status.

The difference here is that the Liechttraktor actually existed. It was a real machine, not a fiberglass model. This is not the same situation at all. Rather than actually building something for people to consider, they staged a fake, and then photoshopped it. And they did a bad job all around. It was funny. Its the sort of think where its perfectly natural to laugh. I don't understand why you aren't laughing, to be frank. Its really obvious what's gone down.

Its more a matter of the Iranians thinking we're stupid enough to buy something like this, not a matter of us thinking their stupid. Well, except in the case of us thinking their stupid for thinking something so stupid.

For the record, this is what a REAL stealth fighter video looks like.

Please notice the differences:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Ki ... ure=colike

Uhh, no actually its vastly superior in nearly every metric, as is to be expected from a next gen plane. The mechanics of even how it works are fundamentally different. The shaft driven lift fan for example ends the problems the harrier has with sucking in exhaust, and this plane is both supersonic and has a low radar return, to say nothing of superior range and loadout and of being less of a bitch to VTOL with. Not that it matters much to the navy, as they'll be doing their conventional crash carrier landings with their variant, and the Marines can just upgrade from the harriers and continue on as they have.

The harrier is being replaced because of its weaknesses, not its strengths. The bitch of the F-35 is the cost overruns and the politics.

(And no, this isn't chest thumping or back patting or whatever else, Nico, so please don't start in on me. Its just the difference between an old plane and a new one.)