Comments by "VisibilityFoggy" (@VisibilityFoggy) on "Could Putin Attack Britain - Ukraine War Special" video.

  1. There is also a Pan-NATO E-3 registered in Luxembourg that is available to NATO member states. It has been airborne over the Ukraine border pretty much 24/7 as of late. The RAF could also use the F-35 as a pinch-hit AWACS if need be, or the Merlin HM2 variants that have been built.
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  2. There are a few more layers to this. First, the air complement of the QE could be surged. The F-35s offer both ISR as well as air defense capability, bonus in stealth form. There is also the USAF F-15 fleet Lakenheath, which would obviously defend its base, but would also be networked into the larger air defense picture through Link 16. Not to mention, since Article V would have been invoked at this point, these Russian jets would have to get through multiple intercept attempts by every NATO member state along the way. The Tu-160 is a platform largely equivalent to the B-1B. It has a massive radar cross section and would easily find itself in the no-escape-zone of modern air-to-air missiles like the Meteor and AMRAAM-D. The Blackjack's role in modern conflict will be conducting airstrikes and providing air support once air superiority has already been achieved and a no-fly-zone imposed. All this said, I think stealthy strategic bombers are still of use, especially when they can also serve in roles such as a low-observable comms node, ISR platform, maybe even AWACS. That's all planned for the B-21 project. It might be worth it for the RAF to jump back into the bomber game... there's been some talk of Australia buying them.
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