Pym , a lot of what you say may be correct, miles off topic, but, it does appear to be right......
Except during the worst times in our so-called ecomomy we operated combat capable aircrafts, perhaps not too well or even to the limit of their capablity, but we did operate them.
The most difficult aspect of operation FJ's is finding the personall to do it.The newly accquired PC-9's should be supplying us with men and women capable of making the step to FJ's within 2-3 years.
So where do you get 20 years from???
I notice that several people who are against us operating combat capable aircrafts do come up with reasons which are at best red herrings and have no real meaning.
The only real reason why we should not operate or train with FJ's is that there is no threath which we can employ them against, but if such a threath should arise then I doubt we will be given the 4-8 months* to make such equipment fully operational[*I freely admit to an element of educated guessing here]
Even prior to the 2nd world temper tamtrum we were operation Gladiators, an aircraft which was capable of making a contributation, no matter how small, to the conflict.
Now we have a whole lot of nothing where as during some times of our worst finical troubles we had such toys as Spitfires and Vampires.
We now have an economic boom for a small percentage of our population, and a period of being slightly better off for a larger percentage, despite the best effords of that fool from Drumcondra and his equaly incompedent fellow criminals.
But all we have for our defence force is a token, and often repeated,statment of purchases of 2 ships and some APC's.
I am wondering how often the stupidly small amount of new helicopters purchased will be repeated to the media as a sign that this present adminstration gives a damn about defence.
No doubt money will be instead spent on giving a very sweet deal to some very rich infrastructure dealer so they can get even richer building another 5 KPH capable motorway and charging people who have already forked out obsene amounts of tax already for the privelage of being delayed on it.
This country can easly afford proper defence equipment and it can be put in place in about 5-8 years, but many politicans would prefeer to waste our money on every cat, dog and devil who appears at our air and sea ports demanding asylum, wheather they need it or not.
BTW , Pym, I am very pro-education, but I am anti-cowardice, we should have joined NATO when it was formed.
I am also in favour of better, and accesable, infrastructure, but I am not in favour of more of berties friends being rich at my fellow taxpayers and my expense providing half-baked inefficent infrastructure. I know what I want too!!!!!
