Forum: Careers & Assignments

To answser your question...... who the hell knows? You your self discussed the unreliability of the f-35 and the budget. Who knows what is going to happen. So the standard answer is "it depends". The reason why you got so much flak is because you have no idea what you are talking about. When/If you finish pilot training you will be thank full you get to fly anything with an F or A prefix. For the dudes who have suffered through UPT, RTU, MQT, FLUG, IPUG, FE, the question is so insanely nieve it only brings out the humor and instant derision. If you cannot accept this, and at the same time take 6-9 seconds to try and understand why your getting crapped on, than you'll never survive a fighter squadron. Is the Viper survivable against modern IADS? hell no. Do we need the f-35 to carry 2000 pounders into the strategic heart of an enemy? **** yes. The f-35 is going to happen because there is no other alternative.

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deadseal wrote:

@Elliboom, it's from Dos Gringos... sorry.

What the hell is the asvab?

Viper driver who's never heard of the ASVAB... Embarassed

There are definitely heavy heroes too. Like the tanker that met us halfway to Bagdad 'cuz our fuel planning wasn't that good. Or the AWACS crew that crashed off the end of the runway at Elmo 'cuz a giant flock of birds became the most lethal weapon in that piece of sky that day.

However, please don't threaten to "break the boom". That shizzle ain't cool. That would be like me saying I accidentally was in a gun mode with master arm hot actually putting my pipper on target and pulling the trigger...accidentally. Ain't cool is it? (I'm assuming in range, in plane, pulling lead....).

Cheers to all the warriors out there.

Oh....what's an asvab?

Look here http://www.official-asvab.com/

It's the test we all take when we join the military. I really had no idea what it would be like; when I opened up the test booklet for electronics, the first question showed four pictures: a rock, a puddle of water, a hammer, and a battery. The question was "Which one of these is a battery?"

I too am suspicious of a pilot who doesn't know what the ASVAB is.

Best Regards,

this sounds like the afoqt from rotc? maybe? anyone, anyone? But joe your right, if someone never heard of the asvab then they were never in the military. ironically the only other guy in this thread who didn't know what the asvab was, i would peg as a pilot.......

lets do hurricane some justice and answer his question: No the viper will not be around, so you should just go heavies. Or RPA's.

It's an enlisted thang - They use the ASVAB to rack and stack what job you qualify for (I tried to score real low in Admin but still qualified with a 34 back in the day). Pilots must also test using PCSM. Yes the ASVAB is kind of like the AFOQT. The F-16 is on its way out but transitioning into the F-35 will not be a bad thing at all. hurricane - Did you fly the Aerosoft F-16 for a while prior to getting into primary?

The original question is interesting...what is the future of the F-16. My generation's question was what is the future of the F-4. And at that time, any reasonable person would say that the F-4 was yesterday's fighter (and it was). So one would have to conclude the same about the great and mighty Viper.

And we all knew this day would come. Sad

However, if you want to live the Viper until its last dying breath, I would say you still have 15 years in front of you. Those that earn it of course. Wink

Quote:

I'm in primary now and I'm all about flying the 16, what is the future of the field looking like? I'm really not into the JSF and would like to stay as far away from it as I can. (yea, I know its supposed to be a 16 replacement)

cheers.

As far as the F-16 is concerned I think the future involves AESA radar upgrades at the very least. I think one thing on the agenda is color moving map displays (I hear some NG Block 30s already have them) and SDB integration. I do believe the AF is going to keep many of the later blocks around for a good long time. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the same avionics found in the F-35 find their way into the F-16. So, the F-16 you may fly 10 years from now might be a good bit different than the one you cut your teeth on.

Lots of countries - including USAF - will be flying the F-16 for fifteen more years. Other countries will be flying it for twenty-five more years (or longer). It's almost certain that many Block 50s (and Block 40s) will get upgraded with AESA radar; DMS issues with the APG-68 guarantee that. Center pedestal displays are coming soon and SDB as well.

Let's face it, as long as it's cost-effective (depending upon your definition of cost-effective) you can jam anything into an F-16 or hang it in a pod; even in a world ruled by JSF, the F-16 will still be relevant for many more years. You just don't get sensor fusion and built-in stealth.

Best Regards,

Elliboom wrote:

...probably can't even pass the ASVAB with a good enough score to be a Sky Cop.

...there's always "Roads & Grounds"....
(I might be dating myself, they might not even have that anymore...)

Smitty

Just out of curiosity, what kind of leadership courses are available to USAF Viper/Eagle pilots?

discofishing wrote:

Just out of curiosity, what kind of leadership courses are available to USAF Viper/Eagle pilots?

Flight lead upgrade
Instructor Pilot upgrade
Weapons Instructor Course

you might include Flight Examiner

OHHHHHH, do you mean USAF courses. It's the standard blue suiter courses all officers attend:

SOS
ACSC
AWC

you might include SAS

What a strange question. Why would you think Viper/Eagle pilots would have separate leadership courses?

The moving map is a complete waste of time...If i am somehow so out to lunch during a strike sortie that I need to navigate by VFR clock to map to ground, than something has gone seriously wrong....make that center console into a 10 by 10 MFD...that would be sweet. Than you could get the resolution that a sniper is actually pushing to your jet.

Quote:

The moving map is a complete waste of time...If i am somehow so out to lunch during a strike sortie that I need to navigate by VFR clock to map to ground, than something has gone seriously wrong....make that center console into a 10 by 10 MFD...that would be sweet. Than you could get the resolution that a sniper is actually pushing to your jet.

So if you're supporting a convoy in Iraq or Stan that is driving down main roads, you wouldn't want a hi-res color moving map display with all sorts of different types of overlays and fused data?

Forum: Careers & Assignments

Future of the Viper?