Mediaboss Marketing

Key Point:The MiG-27 had a nasty habbit of exploding.

The Indian air force plans in December 2019 finally to retire its last few Soviet-designed MiG-27 Flogger fighter-bombers, bringing to an end 38 years of MiG-27 operations in India and leaving the Kazakh air force as the last operator of the 1970s-vintage, swing-wing warplane.

New Delhis last MiG-27 unit, No. 29 Squadron is based in Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Two other MiG-27 squadrons shuttered in 2016.

Pilots and planners probably wont miss the speedy but volatile MiG-27, a ground-attack derivative of the MiG-23 interceptor. U.S. Air Force test pilots who flew a captured MiG-23 under the auspices of the once-secret Constant Peg program, literally were afraid of the plane owing to its tendency to explode in mid-flight.

"It would accelerate until it blew up," John Manclark, a commander of Constant Peg during the mid-1980s, said of the MiG-23. "The limit was 720 to 710 knots, but guys would look down inside and see they were going 850 to 880."

The Indian air force acquired the first of 165 locally-assembled MiG-27s starting in 1981. The type flew in combat during the Kargil War between India and Pakistan in 1999. In essence, a simpler MiG-23 without that types air-to-air radar, the MiG-27 with its powerful R-29 engine at low altitude could accelerate to a top speed of around Mach one.

But the plane was complex and unsafe compared to Western types. Even other Soviet types were safer to fly than the MiG-27 was. The Indian air force lost at least 10 percent of its MiG-27s in crashes.

Sri Lankas experience was even worse. The Sri Lankan air force in the late 1990s acquired from Ukraine a batch of six MiG-27s plus a MiG-23 trainer. The Sri Lankan government at the time was at war with the Tamil Tigers rebel group. It wanted a fast fighter-bomber that also could operate at low level.

The MiG-27 arguably was a poor choice. Its unsurprising that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the countrys wartime defense secretary, later was accused of accepting bribes in exchange for approving the MiG buy. A newspaper editor died in an apparent assassination after reporting on the allegedly corrupt fighter deal.

The initial six MiG-27s, plus a follow-on batch of six Floggers and one trainer that the country bought in 2000, performed poorly in Sri Lankan service, even when flown by experienced Ukrainian mercenary pilots.

U.S. advisors in 2001 assessed the Sri Lankan air forces No. 12 Squadron, which flew the MiG-27s and found it wanting. Air force leaders never bothered to procure the required weapons systems/ammunition for them, The Island reported. On the basis of testimony of both army and [air force] personnel, the U.S. pointed out the failure on the part of No 10 [flying Israeli-made Kfirs] and No. 12 squadrons to destroy targets.

No fewer than four of Sri Lankas 14 MiG-27s and MiG trainers crashed. A Tamil Tiger commando raid destroyed another MiG on the ground. As late as 2017, seven MiGs remained in the Sri Lankan air forces inventory, but none were flightworthy.

The air force in early 2019 finally shut down No. 12 Squadron, formally ending the MiG-27s service in the country and reportedly leaving Sri Lanka with just a handful of operational Kfirs and Chinese-made F-7s.

India is struggling to replace its MiG-27s and other old fighters. New Delhi wants to spend around $18 billion acquiring 110 new fighters to replace MiG-21s and MiG-27s. The new planes would fly alongside European-designed Jaguars, French Mirage 2000s and Rafales, Russian MiG-29s and Su-30s and India's own indigenous Tejas fighter in what American plane-maker Lockheed Martin described as "the worlds largest fighter aircraft ecosystem."

Lockheed is pitching to India a new F-21 version of its iconic F-16 fighter. For the purposes of Lockheed's marketing campaign, the F-21 is a new fighter, although it shares many of its major features with the F-16V the company has sold to Bahrain, Greece, Slovakia, South Korea and Taiwan.

David Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is theauthor of the graphic novelsWar Fix,War Is BoringandMachete Squad. This piece was originally featured in November 2019 and is being republished due to reader's interest.

Image: Wikipedia

See the rest here:
India is Eliminating its MiG-27 Fighters (They Were a Disaster) - The National Interest Online

Wikipedia is an incredible source, but the correctness of claims posted on its pages is most of the times called into question. To enhance the websites usability and credibility, the Internet Archive is operating to make references simpler to follow by connecting them to books digital copies.

Till now, 50,000 digitized books that are hosted by the Archive have been connected to 130,000 references. To watch an example in action for the new digital referencing, you can go to the Martin Luther King, Jr page on Wikipedia. If you see at the reference for To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference & Martin Luther King Jr (Adam Faircloughs book) at the pages bottom, you will see it is a clickable link. Clicking navigates you to the digital version of the book in the Internet Archive.

When you unlock a digital book provided by the Archive, you can watch a few pages of preview to see the reference data. If you need to read extra, you can lend a digital copy of the book via their initiative (Controlled Digital Lending).

The linking to digital books of references is done both by robots and by users, and has been conducted in the Greek, English, and Arabic editions of Wikipedia. The Internet Archive claims that it aims to carry on working with Wikipedia societies to scan extra books and connect them to references. This is not the first time the 2 websites have collaborated together, as the group earlier assisted to fix 9 Million broken links with the help of its Wayback Machine archive on the encyclopedia.

Together we can attain global access to All Knowledge, claimed Director of the Wayback Machine project, Mark Graham, to the media in an interview. One linked paper, book, news article, web page, video, music file, and image at a time.

Being the Head of the Science Department,MarshaAustinholds the responsibility to carry out all the activities of this department smoothly. While she is active in this mtier from the last 5 years, she has pursued a B.Sc. degree in Astrophysics to nurture her passion for the science domain. Moreover, with her promising managerial capabilities, her contribution to our organization has set a benchmark for other members at Chemical News Reports. Our platform recently completed 5 Years of togetherness withMarsha. Her work adeptness and splendid presentation skills always catch the eyes of the other members of the Chemical News Reports team.

Read more here:
Wikipedia References Adds Book Previews Hosted By The Internet Archive - Chemical News Reports

In 2016, Bloomberg reported spending nearly $10 million to successfully help reelect Toomey in his race against Democrat Katie McGinty. Independence USA ran TV ads in Philadelphias collar counties that drew attention to his support of gun control legislation, helping him win over critical moderate voters.

The fact that Bloomberg was willing to throw his money into it gave Toomey a talking point to appeal to suburban voters in Philly, and ultimately one of the reasons we lost is that he outperformed Donald Trump in the Philly suburbs, said Mike Mikus, McGintys former campaign manager. Im certain his hand in giving Mitch McConnell a majority in the Senate will be remembered by a lot of Democratic voters.

Bloomberg left the Republican Party in 2007 and registered as an independent. He voted for Barack Obama in 2008, an aide said, though he did not publicize it at the time. He wrote an op-ed in favor of Obama during his 2012 reelection campaign and campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016. In 2018, he changed his registration to Democrat.

Fetterman, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2016 Senate primary, said there is no appetite for the billionaires candidacy among Pennsylvania Democrats: Absolutely none that Ive encountered.

Over the weekend, liberal activists circulated a clip of Bloomberg speaking at the 2004 Republican National Convention in support of Bush.

I want to thank President Bush for supporting New York City and changing the Homeland Security funding formula and for leading the global war on terrorism, he said at the convention. The president deserves our support. We are here to support him. And I am here to support him.

Rebecca Katz, a New York-based consultant to progressive candidates, said the video is important context to understand Bloomberg.

Bloombergs presidential campaign is only telling one side of the story. For years, he helped the New York state GOP hold on to their Republican majority. And while hed prefer Democrats remember his 2016 convention speech, he also spoke at the RNC for George W. Bush in 2004, she said. The only thing thats been consistent about his party affiliation is that it has always been about benefiting Michael Bloomberg."

Sally Goldenberg contributed to this report.

Read more:
'The hubris is unbelievable': Dems seethe over Bloomberg GOP donations - POLITICO

I am a Democrat, but I have always felt that strong opposition parties were good for the country. For this, I have sometimes been harshly criticized by other Democrats. Such criticism could be confusing. Aren't Americans supposed to promote bipartisanship? Indeed, when I first came of age politically, I fundamentally disagreed with Republican leaders like former Gov. Chris Christie and former Rep. Paul Ryan on policy, but I respected them as public servants. I believed that they were the type of leaders who would turn the GOP in particular away from nativism and lead Republicans into some semblance of 21st century politics.

I was wrong. Instead, the GOP has done the opposite. Republicans have taken partisanship to a level that would make Newt Gingrich blush. They have embarrassed themselves, and they have embarrassed me for even suggesting that they could provide a better path forward and for what, some tax cuts and conservative judges? As angry as I am at Donald Trump for his lack of decency and empathy, I am equally as disappointed in the Republicans who aided his rise to power.

As angry as I am at Donald Trump for his lack of decency and empathy, I am equally as disappointed in the Republicans who aided his rise to power.

Still, while most Democrats would understandably prefer an America free from the Republican Party, I somehow find myself hoping for the rebirth of a more tolerant and inclusive conservative party that can help to one day restore Americas faith in government.

Get the think newsletter.

Repairing what is broken is a task too heavy for one party to bear, and an obligation too onerous for any single group. Rebuilding our institutions and strengthening the bond between people of differing viewpoints requires a commitment from each and every one of us. It requires honest brokers, willing to find common ground and ignore the naysayers whose sole goal is to be the loudest in the room. It requires a confidence of purpose that cannot waver in the midst of an election season that could signal the end of ones political career. Most importantly though, repairing our broken country requires Republicans in particular to stand up and take their party back from those who are attempting to bastardize their message.

Succumbing to the worst tendencies of ones party isnt new or unprecedented; weve been here before. Moral crises have repeatedly tested the will of our great nation. This country has battled through the dark days of slavery, segregation, McCarthyism and Watergate, and still we stand. Not because of magic pixie dust but thanks to brave patriots, willing to take unpopular yet principled stands because our social contract demands it.

And America has always managed to find its way back from the brink because of our ability to come together, in search of a shared purpose, when we as a country need it the most. We are edging toward a brink now, not of violence necessarily but certainly of near-intractable partisanship. Just look at the differing ways the impeachment inquiry is being covered. I may be foolish, but I still believe in our shared purpose. I still believe that, in spite of those who have turned their back on our motto, e pluribus unum, principled conservatives will find their way back home.

So who will stand up now and help take the Republican Party in a new direction? Election season cannot go into perpetuity, at some point we must govern. Someone must lead.

I am not naive, nor do I believe that the majority of our political leaders have the intelligence or moral compass to act with the courage of Abraham Lincoln. Expecting an overnight solution to a longterm problem is a recipe for failure. And I realize that the same people who mocked me for believing that Republicans and Democrats could work together before, will likely mock me once again for believing that all hope is not lost.

I realize that the same people who mocked me for believing that Republicans and Democrats could work together before, will likely mock me once again for believing that all hope is not lost.

But what other choice do we have? Our democracy requires compromise and courage to meet the challenges that we face. We cannot afford to continue down the broken roads that have led us to gridlock. We need each other.

Like it or not, Democrats need a strong Republican Party to act a a counterweight in our deliberative process. The Framers fully intended for progress to be incremental, not overnight or all at once. A democracy absent diversity is not a democracy. This symbiotic relationship may not be pretty and certainly may not always be successful, but it is necessary to the framework that makes us a shining star on a hill.

I have often been called too optimistic and criticized for my faith in my fellow American. Yet I wear those labels with pride, because at the end of the day we have to believe. We have to believe that we are part of something worth fighting for and saving.

Most importantly though, we have to believe in the goodness of each other and our ability to correct course even when it seems impossible. That has been our saving grace throughout history, our ability to turn this social experiment around and live up to our motto out of many, one.

Michael Starr Hopkins is the founding partner of Northern Starr Strategies and served on the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

More:
Trump's Republican Party is an embarrassment. Here's why Democrats can't give up on it. - NBC News

Josh Eisen, a Republican, recently sat down for an interview with News 12s Tara Rosenblum after becoming the eighth candidate in the race for Rep. Nita Loweys congressional seat in the 17th District.

So far, the businessman is the only Republican to vie for the seat. Rep. Lowey, the first women to ever head the House Appropriations Committee is retiring at the end of her term after 31 years in office.

People call me a glutton for punishment. I call myself a progressive Republican, said Eisen.

He says he believes a Republican can win with the seat, which has been a Democratic stronghold.

A Republican can win in this [political] climate. At the end of the day, people make decisions about an individual with compelling ideas, he said.

Eisen spent decades starting, owning and investing in small businesses in the legal and education spaces. He's also the son of a Holocaust survivor, which is why he says he has a passion to stand up to radicalism.

Eisen has already laid out an ambitious list of priorities, including a Medicare rehaul and a $500 million investment into commercial drones.

We've all seen the technology where a drone can drop an 800-pound payload within a quarter-inch anywhere across the globe. That the technology hasn't made it to the consumer is unfathomable and it needs to happen, said Eisen.

Another Republican, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino is also said to be considering a run. News 12 has learned Astorino was meeting with party officials in Washington Monday, but he has not said whether he's finalized a decision.

Continue reading here:
'Progress is not partisan': Only Republican in race for Rep. Lowey's seat speaks to News 12 - News 12 Bronx