CV32

How time flies ... Ten years since that massive MBX Global Thunder. Link to the ENN news page that covered some of the major events of the wargame: ENN coverage

Yeah, I have already been eyeing Dreadnought. but without accounts of actual battles, I am not sure if it would hold my interest right now.

CV32: Interesting take on a perceived shift in priorities in the US DoD/budget ... From Defense Program Begins to Swing Back Towards "High-End" Conflicts

I haven't been able to pull down that report, or the 2009 report either, for that matter, but I do know that they have continued to pump money into the A-RCI program, with a contract award as recent as November past.

I assume you've already looked here? HarpGamer FAQ link to Brief History of Harpoon Direct link to the Harpoon wiki

If you (or anyone) can find H4 applicable specs for the J-15, I'd be grateful.

You might find some useful fodder for your Argentine/Brazilian cooperation in this news report (in Portuguese), where the Royal Navy's River class patrol ship HMS Clyde (on Falklands patrol duty) was barred entry to port at Rio on or about 8 January. Uruguay did likewise with HMS Gloucester in September.

I think I still have Patriot, including the box and floppies, kicking around here somewhere. Can't say I ever got a good grip on it either, let alone master it.

Finally finished up Castles of Steel. Superb book, chock full of detail about every major naval battle of the First World War, as well as the political and strategic wranglings wrapped around them. Highly recommended. Also finished Project Azorian, a Christmas gift. A relatively short book overall, but again, quite a bit of detail here, including debunking several common myths and misconceptions about what went on with the K-129 and her recovery.

Not a whole lot of information floating around out there about the J-15 'Flying Shark', but I cannot see why not. To be honest, I would rather be adding hypotheticals and potentials from the PRC than just about anywhere else.

Nope.

If I had any worries about that happening, it would not even be a consideration. The only way a hypothetical J-20 entry would be replaced or substituted is if an actual production aircraft resulted from the same program. Thus migrating the J-20 from the hypothetical into a reality.

Well, now it has taken to the air. Chinese J-20 logs first flight Link to Youtube video of the event.

Meh.

Does anyone see merit in adding the J-20 to the HCDB as a hypothetical platform, for the sake of scenario building (just as I have done with the T-50 PAK FA)? Even with provisional, and probably inaccurate, specs?

From Wall Street Journal Richard "Dick" Winters, the Easy Company commander whose World War II exploits were chronicled in the book and TV miniseries "Band of Brothers," died last week in central Pennsylvania at age 92. [excerpt]

HCDB-101213 Aircraft: Su-33 Flanker D - Russia Su-33M Flanker D - Russia Su-33MK Flanker D - PRC Mobile Land Units (MLUs): BM25 Musudan Bty - North Korea DH-10 Bty - PRC

I see the J-20 similarly as the DF-21D ASBM (also getting lots of press these days). China is obviously pumping a lot of yuan into its military these days, including a fair bit of effort expended on the cutting edge technologies. Some of it is producing impressive results. Hitting a satellite in orbit from the ground in 2007 was unlikely to have been a fluke. Other examples are - for the time being, at least - might be more aptly described as "all flash and no cash". The DF-21D might indeed have a small chance of hitting a ship at sea, but not every salvo is going to be a winner and there are a lot of things that must go exactly right for it to work. Some of those supporting components (e.g. the OTH radars, the UAVs, the command & control, even the ROE that permits engagement of a US Navy carrier strike group) are 'fragile'. Similarly, the J-20 is more a symbol of what they hope to achieve in the PRC rather than a real contender right now. Rather than start sweating bullets about squadrons of J-20s arrayed around the East/South China Seas in the near future, I'd be thinking about where all this effort is going to take China in 10-15-20 years. A fleet of J-20s (or its final product) that are only half as good as the F-22/F-35, with batteries of DF-21s that only hit their targets a quarter of the time, etc, etc, are still nothing to sneeze at. Especially when your biggest competitor is 3,000 km away.

In the older battlesets using the stock database I believe Shipwreck is treated as land attack capable. In the newer battlesets using the HCDB, iirc, I only gave land attack capability to the nuclear warhead version.

A new version of the HCDA database, the Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE) 'Americas' Database (HCDA-110107), is now available. It is available in the Downloads section of this website. New additions (or overhauls of existing entries) include: Aircraft: Su-33 Flanker D - Russia Su-33M Flanker D - Russia Ships: Shi Lang (Varyag) CV - China Enjoy!

Thanks for posting these, Patrick. I think it is very useful to introduce new players to a gradually increasing complexity (and difficulty) among scenarios.

No problem with any of these, except the speculative carrier aircraft for Brazil. They awarded a contract to further upgrade their A-4 Skyhawks, and until their air force fighter competition is complete, I am hesitant to guess what the future might hold. I'd suggest using the Rafale for any hypotheticals in the interim. Btw, I appreciate the reminders about translating the updates and fixes from the HCDB across to other databases like the HCDA. I don't always have the time to keep up with that myself.

At the rate that photos and info have been coming out in the past few days, it should not be long before at least provisional data becomes available. Though I have to admit that I am not yet sold on whether the J-20 we've seen is actually operational, even as a prototype. It should make for 'interesting' Westpac scenarios.

Merry Christmas to all. Have a safe and happy holidays with your family and friends.

You can move the position of any Installation just as easily as you would a surface ship group or land unit. In fact, its often necessary when working with the SE or the BattleSet Builder because the real life geo coordinates rarely exactly match the position on the game maps. Oh, I was pretty sure you had.