Slater

http://www.defensenews.com/osd_story.php?s...A&i=3759908 Must be some life left in the old girl yet

This is a Swiss upgrade program: http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/200...rland_08-15.pdf

Israel wants a few: http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2008/Israel_08-83.pdf

$2375.83 is what the Marines are paying for them. I would imagine Israel would get them a bit cheaper.

http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/200...nland_08-85.pdf Looks like they're spending a lot of money on this program. How long does Finland plan to keep the Hornet in service?

http://www.finance.hq.navy.mil/fmb/09pres/PANMC_2_BOOK.pdf According to the above budget document, the Fiscal Year 2009 price for a "Rocket, 66mm HE, M72A7 w/Graze" is $2375.83.

http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2008/UAE_08-19.pdf Geez, it only barely entered service with US forces. Must be the first foreign sale?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26640202/ Looks like the next administration gets to deal with this hot potato.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/arc...eUtilityof.aspx Sounds like a well deck is a handy thing to have.

I just hope the whole country doesn't implode after the US withdrawal. They'd be left with a lot of expensive equipment needing outside technical support/expertise to operate. Guess they could always sell it on the open market

That's my understanding; that Laser JDAM was developed primarily to give JDAM the capability to engage moving targets. So now you have the laser-guided Paveway family with INS/GPS capability and the INS/GPS JDAM family with laser-guidance capability - essentially two separate groups of munitions with much the same abilities, same warheads, and in many cases the same fuzes. Without knowing the details, I would imagine that one area that Paveway may have an advatage over JDAM is employment at lower airspeeds due to it's larger wing assembly and fins ( i.e. an A-10 on a CAS mission in restricted terrain). Just a guess, and I may be completely off base on that one.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=370...c=AIR&s=TOP Curious if this sale will be approved. Thoughts?

JDAM, being INS/GPS guided, can attack in conditions (smoke, fog, haze) that might make attack by LGB's more problematic.

Regarding proximity fuzes for the USAF's 2.75 rockets, I've never heard of such a fuze, in working with that particular weapons system starting in 1978. That's certainly not to say they never existed, but such a fuze was never in the tech data. And that covered warheads going back to the 1950's as well as the old Mk 4 motor. All unitary HE warheads were point detonating only.

IIRC, the R4M was the basis for the US family of 2.75 FFAR's ("Mighty Mouse").