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originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Zaphod58
Wait... what?
An F-18, into a tanker?
That is rather like re-purposing a Mini Cooper (an old one, not those massive, newfangled ones), into a recreational vehicle, in that, there is no way you are getting enough fuel on board even an unmanned version of the F-18, to refuel more than one fighter at a time... or at least, if there is a way, I hope they never try and land one of those tankers within a hundred miles of a city, because to pack all that fuel into such a tiny aircraft is... well its ridiculous. Current tanker aircraft are HUGE, and one assumes there is a reason for that, beyond "thats what we had lying around idle last time we wanted a tanker".
I find this article extremely difficult to swallow, and its nothing to do with the brand of copier paper in my printer.
originally posted by: MAVERICKANDGOOSE
This tanker would be used primarily in carrier recovery operations. Jets circling the carrier that are low on gas hit the tanker for enough to get them on the deck. The navy has other assets available for long range tanking.
What strike capability? Under the last RFP future requirements may add in strike, but for now they're looking at limited ISR to find surface targets. They want it to look for ships on the way out and back in, so the ISR will be a simple E/O turret.