NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is the thread for the largest ever airshow and aviation trade show in NationStates history, Aero Kargucagstan! Designed as a companion to Aero India (http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/Supersonic-Sales-Call.html), which will be taking place at the same time (February 9th to February 15th), this airshow has been in the works for the past week on the NationStates Draftroom (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5366&st=0) and all participants are using designs that have passed through said website. Although the competition is primarily for the benefit of the nation of Kargucagstan, all weapons, aircraft, designs and other products showcased in this thread are available for purchase by any nation. Yes, that means YOU!

One more note- although you can post buyers/tourists/officers/etc from your country at the airshow, you cannot enter your own designs or participate in the actual shows. Only NSD-approved designers are permitted.

For reference, here is a very rough map of the island it takes place on:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a210/Zipline/NationStates/2a7c8730.png

IC:

Massive Airshow Takes Off in Island Paradise

6 hours ago

HYPATOS ISLAND, Gholgoth- Monday morning began with a bang as over one hundred supersonic bombers shattered the still air over Hypatos Island, a previously insignificant pixel on the Gholgoth map belonging to the reclusive Free World Empire of Kargucagstan that has been transformed into a colossal new air base solely for the purpose of one event: Aero Kargucagstan 2019. The challenge, initially issued to the brightest minds in the aerospace industry before being opened to other firms, consisted of a set of requirements for an airplane to replace Kargucagstan’s current air superiority fighter, or ASF. The requirements- powerful radar, ASF characteristics and a moderate price tag- were left purposefully vague in order to promote creative designs, but the winner of the contest was guaranteed a gigantic contract: several thousand aircraft worth tens of trillions of dollars.

The competition has attracted participants from all over NSEarth, with event organizers expecting in excess of 2,000 companies from 300 nations to submit designs, although in the eyes of the ten million or more tourists set to tour the island over the show’s --- day run only a handful will really stand out. Scheduled events include aerobatic displays by the finest pilots from the premier regions of the world, live-fire demonstrations of advanced weapons systems (visible through binoculars or television broadcast only, of course), carrier take-offs and landings on simulated decks, booth-browsing and many other exciting events.

With the show scheduled to run from the 9th to the --- of February, perhaps there is only one thing left to say: Let the Games Begin!


Hypatos Island

“Hello and welcome to the first day of Aero Kargucagstan 2019! It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Gholgoth and the crowds are absolutely loving it!”

“That’s right, Dan, it’s a perfect day for the beginning of such an incredible event!”

“Boy, it sure is. Well I hear that the performances will be starting in just a few minutes, so please make sure you get your family to a good place to observe the skies- like there wasn’t one-“

“Oh ho ho! Good one, Dan!”

“Before the show starts! Ted and I will be broadcasting live from our booth throughout the day, so stay tuned, stay sharp and stay beautiful!”

Colonel Ioannis Papagoulias of the Kargucagstani Air Force had initially thought he had been assigned to be the primary observer of the bid by the Anarchist confederacy of the Third Spanish States. That was bad enough. But no - he had an even worse assignment - the Confederacy of Defense Corporations. The anarchists, at least, had fighting spirit. There would've been interesting political arguments, which probably would've become interesting fistfights if both parties were amenable.

The Confederacy of Defense Corporations, on the other hand, was pure, undiluted corporate crap - all fawning over the customer, no spirit whatsoever. He bet not a single person representing it had even fought in battle. Ioannis respected corporate power, when it served the nation. When all it did was subvert the nation for profit alone, when it didn't even seek to unite, then it was useless. And the Confederacy was pure uselessness.

Still, they did make some planes. Who knows? Maybe a few would be good. Everyone has a purpose, Ioannis believed, even the useless.
---
María Aviation walked over to meet her co-pilot. She knew she was going to be flying with a combat ace in the back. On the one hand, that made her a bit nervous - after all, in all her hours of flight time, she had never flown in combat, whereas this other person had thrived in that environment. The closest María had come was when she flew in an exercise, and even then, she was just shepherding an O/C over the battlespace.

On the other hand, she'd be meeting a real flying ace! She'd get to hear about air battles and duels in the sky and all that, and it would be awesome. Plus, she knew the F-21 was a good plane. It wasn't her absolute favorite - that was, and remained to this day, the Su-30, the first combat plane she ever flew - but it was pretty damn good.

Hypatos Island
Lericho Air Force Base
9th January
09:24


Hypatos. It was a beautiful island, certainly, and Nils Wiklander, the man now in charge of all of Antigr's military export (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=577761) and the man holding one of the highest civilian posts in the Ministry of Defence, was stood near one of the D5D Brigand (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5149) multi-role fighters, one of ten of all variants of the aircraft, looking around him at the various stands. Lericho AFB had been chosen because it had a simulated carrier to show off the D5D's naval capabilties. Some had been here for just short of a week, painstakingly attending to the smallest details so as to enhance the chances of winning the contract which would be worth, at least, billions or trillions of Universal Standard Dollars. Of course, he was doing his part - to the left of him was a box containing what seemed to be several tonnes of dossier and statistic, each of which could be unimaginably important, but he didn't really care for now.

Behind him, all admiring the scenery, were three Antigran aces, Dagard, Jössi and Valberg. Typically, the fourth, Svendsen, was missing, most likely asleep in the back of the massive Kungliga Flygvapnet transport aircraft that had brought their equipment here. All knew each other fairly well; they had been at events like this before, although not to this scale, and were the typical choices. They made a habit of bringing back crates of the local beer and wine of wherever they went, and they weren't about to drop that now. Valberg had a can of beer in his right hand, occasionally swigging from it. However, on their minds most were their aircraft; the D5D was Antigr's only entry and, in this world of chunky superdreadnought fighters, followed a battlecruiser approach. Empty, it was less than ten tonnes but was built for pure speed, capable of Mach 3 at the expense of some weaponry. Still, it packed a punch - plus, it was carrier-capable with no modifications - stored in the tail of every production aircraft was an arrestor hook so they could be rapidly adapted for carrier usage. Not that it was strictly necessary, for, with it's long range, thoroughly unique variable-cycle engines, it had thrust-vectoring nozzles and was thus VTOL-capable. That, with it's delta-canard wing arrangement, made it unbelievably maneuverable, so much that it had the capability of rendering a pilot unconcious, G-suit or not.

Still, the Brigand was an excellent aircraft, through and through. With them they'd brought four of the standard D5D variant, although if the contract was granted Kargucagstan would recieve D5Es, the export variant. The remaining six aircraft constituted two D5D-3s two-seaters, two D5D-5 advanced trainers, and one each of the D5D-4 anti-shipping strike fighter and D5D-6 super-high-altitude interceptor. Even the specialised variants could perform their general-purpose role, however; they were true multi-role aircraft, able to shoot their way to a target, bomb it, and then shoot down more aircraft on the way back with a flick of a switch to change modes. It also had one of the most advanced radar suites and computer systems in the world fitted in a production fighter, as Antigran doctrine demanded that the computers be upgraded every three years to keep up with the rapid developments of such technology. It [The Brigand] was, and still is, also unique in that, with it's overly-powerful engines that enabled it to break 2000mph in level flight, it could climb to it's service ceiling of 19800 metres, or roughly 65000 feet, completely vertically at maximum take-off weight. So far as the designers knew, no aircraft could climb with all it's weight over the thrusters - the wings not generating any lift at all - at maximum take-off weight. Nils Wiklander was looking forward to this.

Yoriko Munitions was still a bit confused to be in Kargucagstan. She was a naval engineer by trade, not a missile builder. Sure, she had helped manage the design team that built the Tiercel, but that was just handling personnel. Still, it should be an enjoyable experience.

Now, if only she could get her damn phone to work! Yoriko was relaxing on a nice sandy beach on the outskirts of Lericho - it had been a long flight, she deserved a chance to rest - when she heard the first planes taking flight, then turned to watch. They were fairly generic upgraded F-15s and Su-27s, but they certainly looked nice, especially with the way the sun's rays reflected off them just so -

In short, it was a nice photo. If only her damn camera phone would actually let her take it!
---
Ioannis made his way over to the smallest set of static displays at Lericho AFB. Three separate 'bays' of displays, on two separate airfields, had been made available, and they were all filled up. Fortunately, he only had to focus on the designs the Confederacy's companies had brought in. That still left a lot - there were two large booths for their two air-to-air missiles, a third for their main cruise missile, a fourth for their fighter's radar, and several display stands set up for all sorts of planes, including, for some obscure reason, a cropduster - scattered across both airfields. Ugh.

First up, though, were the engines. Two high-bypass turbofans, designed for cargo planes (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5182). What an interesting negotiating tactic, the Colonel thought as the presenter droned on about 'fuel efficiency' and 'high-pressure stages' and 'compressors' and so on. They're going to bore me into a stupor, then get me to buy from them just to get away from it. Then, he saw the food.

What an absurd mix! Raw fish wrapped up, a thick noodle soup, a red dish that was clearly spicy, a hot-pot with vegetables simmering inside, a beef stew with rice noodles, even some sort of jelly spread with bread nearby. He tried that last one - yuck! Far, far too much salt. "Could I get the low-salt version of this?" he asked.

"Mate, that is the low-salt Vegemite," the chef replied, chuckling.

The variety puzzled him as he went on to the next stop. The dishes didn't fit together quite right - they all looked different, like they came from different backgrounds, different cultures. Knowing the Confederacy, they probably did.

A two sleek aircraft sat on the tarmac, shrouded in fabric. Next to it, a similar shapes sat on rails on a pair of truck trailers, noses towards the sky. The FI-20 Ranger and its sister, the FI-20.1M Lone Ranger, were no secrets, but formalities had to be followed. After all, this could be one of the greatest defense deals for years! A little showmanship could be excused. A stage had been set up, with a dozen displays illustrating the power and majesty of the designs, of their sleek forms hurtling past the speed of sound thrice over. Of course, those gathered would see this in moments.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A representative of Hull Aircraft smiled warmly, pure white teeth shining in the morning light. "You all know why we're here. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce the pilot, Mister Harold Stephenson, lead test pilot of the F-I-Twenty and F-I-Twenty-Point-One-M projects. He will be kicking off today's ATHENA festivities, along with a Kargucagstani test pilot in the second seat to observe. So without further adieu, the F-I-Twenty-Point-One-M."

The fabric was quickly removed from all the aircraft, and two figures in flight suits vaulted up on the near trailer. A fist pump and a vault into the cockpit sent ground crew scattering, with a pair of fire hose teams pumping water onto the tarmac behind the aircraft the only remaining in sight. A few moments later, the roar of a jet turbine cut through the morning air.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Lone Ranger, as we like to call it, was designed from the ground up in the spirit of the original Ranger. Unfortunately, we could not preserve the capability to zero length launch without JATO bottles. However...." the speaker paused and chuckled a bit. "I still think this is really cool."

Exactly three seconds later, Stephenson slammed the throttle to full and lit the JATO bottles, turning a plane into a streak of white, rocketing into the sky. He banked left, drifting out over the ocean before heeling around. The plane was light in his hands, the flight computer taking the load of keeping the Lone Ranger in the air. He throttled back, lazily rolling the aircraft over the beach and back over the airstrip.

"Now," the announcer straightened his tie and gestured to a large projection screen. We are going to mount a short aerial demonstration. We will be shadowing the aircraft with a camera plane to allow you to see more easily. The F-I-Twenty that will be shadowing her larger sister will launch without JATO bottles, please take note of this!" Several seconds later, another turbine and another slam to full burner left the audience slightly deafened, wondering where the fighter that had just sat before them went. This fighter streaked across the city to the beach, pulling about to join its circling sister.

Over the next several minutes, Stephenson pushed the Lone Ranger to its limits. Reverse loops, post-stall maneuvers, Immelmanns, and Cobras all featured prominently, before a final full-flaps low speed run over the crowd, demonstrating the delicate control of the aircraft. An innovative blown flap system kept the aircraft flying quite well at a speed far lower than its planform suggested, the stock Ranger struggling to stay slow enough.

Finally, however, the chase plane peeled off and began its landing sequence. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have one final demonstration for you, one of speed. We've talked to the government here and have gained clearance to go supersonic, at high altitude. Please get out your binoculars or turn your attention to the screen."

Stephenson slammed the throttle to full and rolled the plane, retracting all flaps and entering a steep climb. "The Lone Ranger can carry the payload of any standard air superiority fighter, strike fighter, or interceptor, and pull the job of any as well as a dedicated plane. Though, of course, it is more expensive than the dedicated Ranger for interception duties. Observe its dash over Mach three!"

The Lone Ranger heeled, and lit full afterburner, easily passing Mach one. "The innovative engine is a combined cycle turbofan-jet, and when it gets fast enough, the fan disengages and the jet engages. Observe as it leaps towards its maximum speed, maintaining level acceleration much longer than its competitors!" The plane seemed to shudder, and then leaped as the fan section shut down, hammering Mach three at full burner. Finally, the run ended, Stephenson pulled the throttle and drifted down towards the ocean, coasting slowly down through the Machs.

The fighter touched down gently, taxiing to the end of the runway and towards its display. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, anyone want a ride? We brought some two-seaters!"



FI-20 Ranger
http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5335
FI-20.1M Lone Ranger
http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5384

[ABRAXAS AIR BASE, HYPATOS ISLAND]

Hull Aircraft wasn't the only Athena group represenative here today. In the sunlight, directly across from the static-displayed Ranger and Lone Ranger high-speed interceptors were two far larger aircraft, painted in eye-boggling colour schemes reminiscent of Russian styling. Of course, the F-s81 “Cutlass” was no secret aircraft; many articles had been written in newspapers worldwide regarding the capabilities of this 4.5th generation fighter. Many had seen it up close and personal before, especially after its performance in the Alordian Conflict as the brand-new F-s81A and B models. Now, in the G form, it would take to the skies in an entirely different sort of conflict.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, now please direct your attention to the northeastern area of the airfield! A flight of Genoard Air Industrie-built F-s81G Cutlasses will be taking off, participating in several different aerial events for your enjoyment! Piloting the four planes will be four Aralonian pilots of No.34(F) Squadron flying their own aircraft, flown in from RAF Mordenborough especially for this event. In the back seat of two of the aircraft will be Kargucagstani observers, watching and experiencing the events from the sky.” As he finished his sentence, the whine of eight excessively large thrust-vectored hair dryers filled the air around Abraxas, signaling everyone's attention. The four aircraft that these hair dryers – alright, fine, turbofan engines – were attached to began to thunder down the runway.

“You'll notice that the lead single-seater is carrying a full loadout of air-to-air munitions – a bit heavy for most fighters, but nothing that the Cutlass can't handle. He, the second and third planes will be flying over to the bombing range, where they're going to display the prowess of the Cutlass against three types of targets – air, land, and sea. The fourth plane will be staying directly overhead for your enjoyment as it cuts through the air overhead. Let's see it in action!”

==

[BOMBING RANGE, NORTHWEST OF HYPATOS ISLAND]
[AIR-TO-AIR COMBAT DEMONSTRATION]

Already orbiting above the bombing range were fourteen aerial targets. These were old aircraft, drones, equipped with fully functional afterburning jet engines and controlled from the ground. F-a78 “Stiletto” models, they were some of the more maneuverable planes in the Aralonian arsenal.

Perfect targets for beyond-visual-range combat.

The lead plane of the No.34(F) was equipped extremely heavily – far more than was necessary for a normal combat mission, but perfectly alright for display purposes. Underneath the wings were four R-77M-PD long-range ramjet missiles with radar seekers and four standard R-77M mid-range missiles with radar seekers, two of each to a wing. The missile armament didn't stop there – four R-74 electro-optical seeker close-in missiles, two under each engine nacelle; as well as four more R-77M missiles underneath the aircraft, in between the engines. Why so many missiles, you may ask? Can it even fire all of them?

At 70 nautical miles from the target and from an altitude of 38,000 feet, the lead plane fired its four extended-range missiles, one to a target. The targets were at varying altitudes; 40,000 feet, 25k, 29.5k, and 36k. No matter – the radar was able to track all 14 targets in the sky with no issue, as it were capable of feats such as tracking 38 at a time, if the situation required it. The Cutlass pilot sped up and dove to 25,000 feet as the plane reached a distance of 42 nautical miles from the targets, at which point he let fly with six more of his missiles towards six more targets. With this, there were ten individual guided rockets in the sky, each with its own designated target; the full capability of an individual radar mounted on one aircraft. Just to add a bit of flair to the situation, one of the other Cutlasses in the area sent tracking information to the computer of the lead plane, allowing the pilot to loose two more rockets at two more targets than a single radar could handle – this was one of the nice features of the avionics package.

Twelve explosions tore the sky apart as cameras on the ground watched the missile swarm streak to the targets. The visuals of the explosions on all the screens were met by the crowd with raucous applause, but the air-to-air hijnks weren't done yet.

As the drone F-a78 models noted the inbound fighter, they began to swarm around the lone air superiority fighter that had murdered its brethren. The other two Cutlasses split off from the main flight, heading towards their individual demonstration locations, as the lead plane turned off its radar, letting the infrared-tracking system do all the work.

It was simple from here, really, as two of the F-a78s were taken out when attempting to sneak in from an off-boresight angle of 70 degrees to each side. The Cutlass pilot jinked and pulled the plane into a sharp dive, meeting the other two aircraft coming up to meet him. He fired a missile straight at one of the head-on fighters, getting a shot right up the engine intakes, as the other plane fired a dummy round straight at the Cutlass.

No problem for the F-s81, though – its thrust-vectored engines allowed the plane to twist in midair on a pirouette as it loosed flares, which attracted the Sidewinder and pulled it away to sail harmlessly in another direction. The F-a78 kept speeding upwards past the twisting Cutlass, which was able to turn itself into a highly favourable attitude; directly upwards and pointing at the tail of the enemy plane. The Cutlass fired its last missile at the exhaust nozzles of the other fighter before continuing its tumble, re-orienting it towards the ground and allowing the plane to smoothly transition back to level flight, at the same time that the Stiletto exploded from the impact.

Who said the Aralonians were no good at showmanship?

[TO BE CONTINUED – AIR-TO-GROUND COMBAT DEMONSTRATION, AIR-TO-SEA COMBAT DEMONSTRATION, MANEUVERABILITY DEMONSTRATION, AND FINAL FLIGHT]

===

Statistic Block for F-s81G3 single-seat land-based variant:
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Genoard_F-s81

Lieutenant Colonel Iosif Georgiadis of the Chaladian Air Force watched in awe as the Aralonian planes went through their routine. He had never had the opportunity before to see such an impressive plane in action. He was even more impressed with the low price Genoard was asking for it. A mere 54 Million for such a plane seemed too good to be true. It was a true shame he would probably never get to pilot it himself... The Commonwealth was uninterested in such a large and inflexible dedicated air superiority fighter, preferring a light weight multi-role type. He himself was somewhat suspicious of the Cronauldt F-a78 that he had been sent to evaluate after the demonstration of the F-s81, but was aware that the ease with which the Stilettos were dispatched was just a gimmick from the marketing people. If there was one thing a military man like him hated it was marketers.

Leaving the makeshift grandstand that he had viewed the demonstration from, he made his way across the Athena Group area to the small booth set up by Cronauldt Aviation. The centerpiece of the display was two F-a78 fighters, both the standard land based variant and the F-a78K naval fighter, one painted in striking yellow and brown camouflage reminiscent of the Su-37, the other painted in a plain gray naval scheme emblazoned with the Cronauldt Aviation logo on the tail. Georgiadis approached the company representative standing idly nearby.

"Are you planning on having a demonstration sometime during the show?", he asked in somewhat strained English.

Ioannis had long since gotten used to the odd fusion of cuisines, so when he was presented with a choice of pork blood stew, salmon stewed in miso broth with vegetables, or a thick noodle soup with fish and vegetables, he wasn't surprised, just a bit amused. To be fair to the caterers, their wine selection was rather good; he was particularly impressed that they changed the wines so quickly as the day wore on. He had had a glass at the last two stands he had visited, and enjoyed it; his third glass was no different.

This stand, though, was different. It was as big as the engine one, and there were at least four people manning it. He couldn't quite tell - the crowd was in the way. Suddenly, a lightly-tanned woman in a business suit strode up to him and smiled, then said in a bit of a rush, "Ah, you are our point of contact, yes? I figured I'd let you take a look around first."

"Thank you," he said. "I am Colonel Ioannis Papagoulias of the Kargucagstani Air Force. And you are?"

"Yoriko Munitions, manager of the Tiercel (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5327) project, at your service, sir." She managed a half-decent imitation of a salute; Ioannis smiled and returned it. She then guided him into a roped-off section of the display, explaining, "This is the full display, the one we made for you."

"So, tell me about the Tiercel," he began, taking a seat on the (rather comfortable) chair laid out for him.

"The Tiercel is a family of long-range missiles, centered around the AAM-100 long-range air-to-air missile," she said, then pointed out that missile among the ones laid out before him. "We wanted to design something that could hit targets at the outer edges of the F-21's radar, allowing a strike package to clear out enemy interceptors long before they could close in. We focused on speed and on counter-countermeasures; after all, you don't want to give the enemy time to close, nor do you want to let a missile of this size go to waste."

She paused, then continued, "The AAM-100 relies on multiple sources of guidance, starting even before launch, when it receives targeting data from the radar of the fighter carrying it. Upon launch, it climbs to cruise at 27000 meters up, where it travels at Mach 6 and gains kinetic energy. It uses inertial guidance to make its way to the target, with mid-course corrections as necessary. As it approaches the target, it dives and switches over to the XR/MAS-105 seeker head, which judges between its active radar and infrared seeker to determine where the target is."

"So, if the enemy jams the radar, it'll follow IR guidance?"

"Not just IR guidance; it'll also home in on the source of the jamming. There's also a fire-and-forget mode, which relies on the MAS-105 seeker (and pre-launch inputs) exclusively, but that's only for targets 40 kilometers out."

"You said long-range; what kind of range are you talking about?"

"250 kilometers for the standard AAM-100. If you want even longer range, we've got the AAM-100LR, which allows you to target aircraft as far as 400 kilometers out." She pointed out that missile, which was one of the two longest ones there.

"What other variants do you have?"

"There's the ARM-100 anti-radar missile, with a warhead of tungsten fragments; the AGM-100 air-to-ground missile, with a tandem-charge shaped charge warhead; the AGM-100C cluster munitions dispenser, carrying 100 submunitions; and the SAM-100 surface-to-air missile." Yoriko said this while pointing to each in turn.

"What do the air-launched versions mass? How big a hardpoint will they need?"

"The biggest is the AAM-100LR, which has a booster rocket to increase its range; it masses 675 kilos. The AAM-100 itself is the smallest, at just 550 kilos. The others fall into that range," she said. "Do you have any other questions? Can I get you anything? Whatever you like, just let me know."
---
The next morning, Yoriko met Ioannis at Lericho, where they flew by helicopter over to Abraxas. She had told him there would be a special event there at noon, a live-fire demonstration of all the attack planes they had brought. Plus, the other missiles they had brought, the AAM-97 Viper (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5231) and the CM-39 cruise missile (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5174), were there as well. They first got lunch - catered by the Confederacy of Defense Corporations, and this time including some ouzo, which was surprisingly good for a foreign ouzo - then went up to a reserved section of seats at the top of the reviewing stand, overlooking the three main runways and the giant television screen, set up to show the demonstration (and conveniently block the view of the planes involved, just before noon.

An elderly, well-dressed gentleman appeared on the screen, standing in front of an orchestra. "Hello. I am Luis Aviation, guest conductor for the NHK symphony orchestra, and I would like to present to you the following composition: March of the Gunships." As he began to conduct, the screen rolled down and airplanes began to take off. First, six small twin-jet airplanes took off, turned, and headed off towards the bombing range, their engines temporarily drowning out the opening of the piece. A brief interlude allowed the harp to play a little theme, then the next group took off - six larger planes with trapezoidal wings. The oboe played a second little theme, then six twin-engine gunships took off. The third theme was played by the lyre, which quieted in time for the final group, six massive four-engine planes. The third theme was taken up again, this time by the violin, before the march itself began in earnest. Drums sounded out a nicely military beat, with trumpets adding a jaunty tone. The tune then took on a more ominous tone, switching into a minor key and a distinct twist on the main theme, provided by viola, cello and saxophone.

The screen went back up, showing the target range. The camera panned over tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, bunkers, artillery, airplanes, and models set up like infantry. All were marked with a skull-and-crossbones set on a red backdrop.

As the viola, cello and saxophone reached a fever pitch, the harp started to play in a major key, and its corresponding planes arrived. They clearly were firing with their machine guns (though this could not be heard), and some of the 'infantry' were being taken down. The viola started to fade, but the saxophone threatened to drown out the harp - which suddenly was backed by a piano, as the little twin-jet planes let loose a barrage of missiles. The 'enemy' theme died down, and the main march tune came back.

A minute later, the 'enemy' theme had built back up, nearly drowning out the main theme. The oboe then cut in, playing the main theme, as missiles - AGM-100s and AGM-100Cs, the Colonel recognized - rocketed in towards the tanks and artillery. Slower, larger missiles followed, and the trapezoidal-wing planes flew in to the sound of the oboes. The camera then zoomed in on one bunker, which had a radar mounted on top. The 'enemy' theme picked up again, and the radar began turning. A missile launcher emerged from the bunker, and the 'enemy' theme grew more intense. The camera panned back to the planes, which were busy shooting up a runway with their cannons. One of the planes released two missiles (ARM-100s), and the oboe switched over to its theme, playing faster and faster as the missiles closed on the radar, which suddenly shut off. The cello attempted to drown out the oboe, playing as loud as it could; it suddenly became clear that it was playing the oboe's theme, and the missiles hit the radar, destroying it. The 'enemy' instruments died down, and the oboe, now backed by the piano, played its theme. As the trapezoids flew off, the main theme returned, now backed by the viola.

Another minute, and the 'enemy' theme came back, this time faster and without the cello. As the first set of gunships flew in, the lyre quietly started to play its theme. Small missiles flew off from the gunships towards another radar, and the viola tried to drown out the lyre. The viola then began backing the lyre's theme, and the small missiles struck the radar. Then, as drums played up the main theme in the background, the gunships opened fire with their miniguns and gun-mortars, attacking a group of 'troops' and their accompanying vehicles. The lyre's theme grew, now backed by the viola and the cello, but the saxophone still played its theme as the camera panned over to the bunkers.

Then, triumphantly, the violin entered, with its accompanying gunships. Large missiles streaked towards the bunkers, blasting into them with one warhead, then exploding in full below. The saxophone switched to the lyre's theme, and the new gunships joined their smaller companions. The other attack planes then emerged, and the planes flew off in formation to the sound of the main theme, now backed by all the instruments. A crescendo, and then the piece ended.

The screen switched back to Tokyo. "What you witnessed is the combined striking power of our attack planes. First, the AT-36 (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5215)," Luis said, and the harp played as the screen showed the little plane in flight, "next, the FA-21 (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5175)," and now the oboe played and the fighter-bomber flew, "then the AC-62 (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5316)" - the lyre played as the gunship flew - "and finally the AC-15 (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5181&st=0&#last)" - the violin played as the larger gunship flew. "I hope you liked today's presentation. Enjoy Aero Kargucagstan 2019!"

Contarch Thucydides Notara overlooked the the McLeod Aerospace display and couldn't help but be a bit impressed. Everything looked neat and orderly, almost to a military standard, and the representatives weren't being pushy or hand gladding anybody who looked official. The professionalism was almost as impressive as the display, not the kind of thing one typically associated with a liberally capitalist country. Contarch Notara didn't believe these people stood all that much of a chance, really, not with the Nukefighter in service and thing being very similar. However, the missiles looked very promising and there was an off chance that some would be ordered for testing, at the very least. It was all above his pay grade, but any airman had a thousand speculations for everything.

Thucydides was rather startled when a tall woman wearing the blue tunic and black trousers of a foreign air force spoke, surprisingly fluent and educated Greek, from his side, "Contarch Notara? I'm Aerospace Captain Ailis Conghaile, CO of the Aerospace Force Evaluation Command. I'll be your guide through this display and lead pilot when we take the aircraft up. I'm very familiar with this old girl, back when I was a Squadron Leader I had the distinction of being senior pilot for the XF-107 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=7475523&postcount=755) program. Now, if you'll follow me."

Notara was given the essentials on the aircraft, plus a disk with all declassified test data for evaluation. It took the bulk of his time at the display, but the Aerospace Captain touched upon the missiles that were also with the display. "Naturally this was evaluated by the IAF as a cheaper option for a multi-role fighter, so we could keep our F-120 air superiority fighters from overexposure to surface anti-air defenses. We decided that it would simply be easier and cheaper in the end to include multi-role capacity into the F-120s as a very secondary option. I assure you it had nothing to do with performance, she met or exceeded all projected expectations. However, as you are here looking for an ASF, we only brought along air-to-air missiles. Well, kinda, but you'll see what I mean. Most prominently featured here are the Star I family of missiles (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9898844&postcount=1213), although we've brought along a couple of older long range anti-bomber types if your country is looking for a cheaper option.

"First we have the AIM-508 Starshield short range missile. This is the standard dogfighting job, although we think it's an exceptional example. 34km max range, dual waveband IR with advanced targeting capabilities such as decoy recognition and the ability to actually target specific parts of an aircraft, plus it can be targeted with a 105 degree cone which allows for snapshots that would be awkward at best for most other missiles. Now, the interesting thing about this missile is that if you swap out the seeker and warhead, you get an anti-radiation missile called the AGM-512 Stararm. Max range is increased to 45 km and speed is bumped up a tad. Unfortunately we don't sell the conversion kits, but both missiles are in the same neighborhood cost-wise.

"The second missile is called the AGM/AIM-509 Starfall. As you can probably guess from the name, the missile is dual-function from the word go. The range naturally varies depending on how you're using it, but for air attack max range is 180km and for surface attack it's 220km. Primary sensor is satellite-guided inertial with an LPI radar and an IR backup. Two way data link is standard and the missile's radar can be programmed for lock-on-after-launch, home-on-jam, home-on-emission, or any combination of the three in any order. It's honestly probably the most versatile and useful missile you'll ever see.

"The third missile is the AIM-510 Starshell. It's primary use is against bombers and AWACS, although it will engage tactical aircraft at the same ranges the -509 will. Against the former, its max range is 280km. Sensors and targeting are to the same standard as the -509, although there is an electro-optical secondary backup in addition to the IR.

"The last missile in the AIM-511 Starburst. It is in the same niche as the -510, but its range is extended even further, out to 550km. The truly great thing about this missile is that in an anti-AWACS role, there's almost no chance of detection at the outer edge of the envelope and evasion is very difficult because the missile won't ever have to turn on its radar to find and kill the AWACS.

"Now, the AIM-315A Spear (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=6058363&postcount=619) and AIM-315E Long Spear (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9898844&postcount=1213) fill the same role as the -510 and -511. While both missiles are certainly cheaper, their range is not as good and their sensors are not as advanced. What's more, for these missiles to work properly an actively radiating aircraft has to be in the combat zone. Usually it's an AWACS, but the problem is that the other side probably has similar missiles. It's why they were phased out in IAF service as soon as the Star I series was made available.

"Now that I've talked your ear off, how about a little action? I'm going to go suit up and I expect that you'll do the same. One of our bombers here is on standby for drone launching duty and my aircraft will be loaded with two of each Star missile to give you an idea of how the aircraft and missile perform on a combat mission. After that you'll have the chance to take the sticks and go through a series of maneuvers. Two conditions, though; no Cobra and do not go below Angels 30. None of the -107s here are new and McLeod Aerospace is slightly concerned by high stress on the airframes. "


---


Once in the air, Aerospace Captain Conghaile began explaining the scenario, "Contarch, we have five drones simulating a bomber with four fighters as escort. Since this is basically a weapons demonstration, the drones won't take any evasive maneuvers or attempt to engage us. The missiles will be fired at their outer envelopes just to showcase the accuracy of the missiles at extreme ranges. After that I'll give you the sticks and leave to try any maneuver you want, with the caveats I mentioned? Any questions? No? Alright, the drones are at 600km, so let's do this. Fox four, fox four, with two away..."

A couple hours later the Contarch exited the aircraft smiling, "I very much like this aircraft, Aerospace Captain, but you understand I can only give recommendations that we will place an order. Your missiles are somewhat more likely, but again no guarantees."

With a salute the Contarch walked away.


---


The bomber demo was going to be McLeod Aerospace's big hurrah. With enough purchased foreign tanks and other vehicles to simulate a Doomie heavy armoured division laagered in the field, there was enough potential destruction to impress even the most hardened military soul. To make things interesting, the anti-air defenses for the division would not only work, but would be hot. A good hundred kilometers out the bombers loitered, waiting for the go signal from the E-128A AWACS orbiting a good bit further back. The twist that none of the bomber crews knew about was that their comms, both between bombers and individual crews, were being fed to speakers around a massive projection screen that would display the action.

"Raider element, this is Hawk Actual. Mission is a go, weapons free."

"Roger, Hawk Actual. Raider 1-1, out." A moment's pause while 1-1 switched channels, "You heard the man, 1-4. 1-2 and 1-3 will give you exactly five minutes once you hit the target area to do your thing before they join the party, make absolutely certain your objectives are cleared. How copy?"

"Copy, Raider 1-1. Going in."

From 50,000 feet the RB-101E (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9124276&postcount=1089) turned sharply into a turn-dive that would've done a fighter pilot proud. Once the aircraft was down to a mere thousand feet, the burners were kicked in to full military power and the recon bomber, despite the massive drag, snapped easily through the sound barrier and on to Mach 1.4. The sound feed from 1-4 kicked in just as the pilot started talking to his Electronic Warfare Information Analyst, "Give me the scoop, spook. What've we got?"

"It's looking like a good half dozen mobile phased arrays, which in all likelihood represent their AA battery HQ. Given the strength of the signals, I'd say they had us at the go point, but I'm not certain. I think it's best if we go in like they do have us and force their SAM and flak batteries to engage us from local control.."

"You think we should take them out now? That tips our hand."

"Yes, sir, but as I said I believe they had us back at the go point and they probably noticed that one of the bombers quickly disappeared from their scope. So we have to figure they know we're coming and are more than happy to appear as if they don't just in case we want to come in fat and dumb."

"A good point. Right, Co, I want twelve Buzzsaws (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9845851&postcount=1202) on those radars, just to make sure. Defense, I need you guys on your game. Station one, jam the fuck out of anything and everything that even sniffs at us and then feed Co the targeting data. Station two, I want you identifying all the major communications nodes you can once we roll in proper. Route it to Co and the AWACS so the other bombers know; anything we can't hit is going to be on them."

Once the proper range was reached, the locations of the radars were fed to the appropriate missiles and the missiles were sent off. Since 1-4 wanted there to be some element of surprise, the missiles were programmed to maintain launch altitude . Once the missiles hit the target area three were immediately taken out, proving the EWIA right, and another two missiles their targets but both missiles re-enagaged to good effect on an area that was leaking signals like mad. Despite five misses on the primary targets, two radars were completely obliterated and the other four were in various but less complete versions of disablement. It was a testament to the quality of the missiles that despite good efforts by the radar operators to quickly spoof their attackers, none of the missiles had been fooled.

The recon bomber quickly followed on the tail of its initial attack and entered the area trailing a massive cloud of flares and chaff, not to mention radiating so much energy a house could be powered if the output were converted. Another twenty Buzzsaws, in the span of a couple minutes, later the division's anti-air defenses were effectively destroyed. Four missiles were kept in reserve just in case somebody was being smart and holding fire for the main attack.

"1-4 is clear, air defenses appear to be neutralized. Will enter a holding pattern and look out for any stragglers. 1-3 is clear to engage targets of interest."

"Hawk Actual reads you, 1-4. Good job. 1-3, please target what we have identified as major communications nodes first and then roll down the list. We think the big ones are regimental HQs and anything below that are battalion commands. Don't bother with the small ones that 1-4 managed to find, those are probably just company command vehicles and those will be taken care of by 1-2 and 1-1."

"Roger, Hawk Actual. Be advised we will have many ground attack missiles (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10311958&postcount=1403) not expended once profile is complete. Please advise."

"1-3, once profile is complete enter holding pattern with 1-4 and await instructions from your element lead on engaging remaining targets once element profile is complete. How copy?"

"Copy loud and clear, Actual. Rolling in now."

Although substantially bigger than the recon bomber, the B-108 came into the target zone in a penetration run at Mach 1.25. The regimental HQs, eight in all, quickly fell to snapshots from the big bomber. Once those were done Raider 1-3 began methodically hitting the battalion headquarters; there was no hurry since communications had largely been disrupted through electronic and direct means.

"Hawk Actual, Raider 1-3 reports targets are toast. Entering holding pattern now."

"Excellent, 1-3. Raider 1-2 and Raider 1-1, you already have your target packages. Wrap them up and deliver like ol' Saint Nick."

What came next put the previous runs to shame. Raider 1-2, a B-105A (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8070225&postcount=940), was not the sort of bomber one sent on penetration runs. While supersonic at high altitudes, it was simply too big to break the sound barrier down low. No, what it excelled at was raining death from high above while going very fast (for a 90m bomber). Targeting the laagers of the heavy armour regiments, the bomber unloaded its full compliment of ninety satellite guided bombs. Given that a laager is basically a compact defensive encampment, the bomb overlap was massive but ensured complete kills of the major vehicles. 1-1, a a B-110 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10115526&postcount=1347) capped off the show by delivering 170,000kg of iron and explosive upon the encampment, fairly putting the simulated division in the category of "memory".

[ Fucking rushed. ]

All the big names in the Jeunese aerospace community--MAMC, Hong, Maliu Yu, even Dynamati--were setting up their booths, and the workmen and managers alike chattered in unintelligible, rapid-fire Jeunese, punctuated by forceful gesturing, as they went about their tasks in preparation for the week's business. Inside sources had only recently punched through the wall of Kargucagstani secrecy that the government there was only holding the airshow with an eye toward a fighter contract. The coincidence of the information arriving at the late date combined with the fact that none but one of the companies really had any serious plans even on the drawing board for such a thing meant that only the YL-104 (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/YL-104), MAMC's "large fighter" already in service with the Jeunese Navy, could be realistically accepted.
+++Then there was the doubt that any of the product could be moved with the National Parliament's consent. Fan Banou had not replaced any of the fallen representatives after the purge with his cronies to cement his power, because he had honestly believed in what he was doing. In doing so, he unwittingly brought in new blood which could be made malleable, and there were just enough members of this Xinban, this New Team--on the Parliamentary Warfare Committee to make a sale to Kargucagstan feasible, though each company was trying its hardest to win each representative over exclusively to their side, which in an irony actually made prospects much worse. However, this seemed only to drive the rest--and MAMC itself, not to be left out--into promoting products of other sorts, in the hopes that as the prospectors looked over the merchandise, something that was interesting but not mandated as needed would strike their fancy and be remembered later.
+++All this political scheming was not lost on Wu Rui, but he was quite happy to simply get his paycheck and keep his job flying planes. It was probably something some preachy woman would get on him about, but he preferred to simply give them their paycheck and stay away from the types what sounded like a low-budget script. He was most definitely *not* pleased that Liu Tian, his faithful and utterly dependable GIB, was getting shafted to the sidelines so some Kargucagstani could get a feel for the jet from the inside, which Wu thought was rather pointless if the man wasn't going to be flying his plane, and by God he wouldn't be.
+++Wu would be flying with his Jeunese squadron, the Heimao Zhongdui--the Black Cat Squadron--in their slot in their airshow. Whereas most of the rest of the competitors had demonstrated singular examples accompanied by technical explanations, the Black Cat Squadron would be doing a true aerobatics show. After completing the pre-flight checklist with Liu (and huddled in a very warm Gore-Tex coat: the weather was positively miserable for doing any sort of show, though it was supposed to improve later on; even so, Wu felt sorry for the audience in a way), Wu slipped inside the hangar he had just left to warm up and wait for his segment, which would be coming along any minute.
+++As it happened, he was through his cup of coffee and halfway through a cigarette when the call came for the Black Cats to get ready. He stood, dusted himself off, sent his wishings of luck to his fellow pilots, tossed the butt of the cigarette in the garbage on his way out the door, and walked briskly to his plane, where the Kargucastani was already waiting. Wu walked right past and hustled up the stairs, with hardly a glance. A moment after, he heard and saw out of the corner of his eye the test pilot deftly move into the back seat and buckle himself in. Neither man communicated. Wu made a few last-minute checks of his instruments and restraints, and brought the canopy down as the ground crew got the stairs away from the plane.
+++Wu moved his jet to the taxiway, and waited his turn to take off, while the squadron members ahead of him got into the air. He was Number 6 position, which meant that his was a long wait, and it was silent. When he finally did get to the runway, he locked his brakes--now upgraded to actually hold the aircraft back since the A2's gigantic thrust increase--and ran up the throttle. Then, when he was ready, he released the brakes and sent the jet crashing forward along the pavement. Within 100 meters, the plane was in the air and joining formation with the squadron, which kept close until about six hundred meters, where they rolled, split, and turned over backwards to overfly the runway and the crowd. Wu's plane rolled along its axis while the squadron leader quickly gained altitude, and kept level for a short distance before he looped back upside-down and reformed to do a knife-edge cross, a Kubilt, and a synchronized axial roll and J-turn climb on the entire squadron's axis. In a brief moment of supreme glory, Wu brought his fighter low over the runway and rolled upside-down, then reversed Pugachev's cobra at eight hundred meters while just above him at one thousand meters, the squadron leader passed over the four crossing aircraft, and pulled up to rejoin them. The rest of the show went on in much the same fashion, but for Wu, it only went downhill from there.

"Goddamnit, they stole my plans!" María exclaimed, watching the Jeunese planes from her cockpit. Her co-pilot for the demonstration flight frowned at her. "Okay, so they brought a squadron, and the maneuvers would be different anyway, and so on. Still, I was going to show off thrust vectoring, and now I can't! Dammit."

The Kargucagstani ace sighed. Just this morning, María had been a ball of exuberance when they did their practice run for today's routine. Now this? How could she expect to fly well if her mood swung so damn much? Didn't she understand the seriousness of her duty? He asked her, "Well, what are you going to do?"

"Fly my routine, of course. What, you think I'd change it now? Too late for that."

"Well, then."

"Anteater, this is Abraxas. The Black Cats have landed; run through your pre-flight, then start your demonstration," the radio cut in.
----
"I hope we're not late, Ma'am," Colonel Ioannis said as he took his seat. He had been busy testing out a flight simulator. It was fairly simplified, but it was pretty, and the combat was interesting. He had already tried out the F-21 in-game; it performed fairly well, and it helped that he could carry absurdly large numbers of missiles. Thirty missiles on one fighter? Hah.

The one annoying thing was that if any missile hit your plane - even so much as clipped it - you 'crashed.' To be fair, it made sense to teach pilots to avoid getting hit as much as possible, and was a half-decent way to model proximity detonations; still, it was unrealistic.
---
Down below, the large trapezoidal F-21 moved into position for take-off. Its engines roared, and the plane rapidly flew off the runway. María switched her radio from the intercom to a radio channel that would be broadcast over the loudspeakers, then introduced her program: "Good afternoon. I'm María Aviation, here on behalf of Luis Aviation to demonstrate the capabilities of the F-21 Anteater by taking it through a series of air combat maneuvers. To start, a chandelle." The afterburners flared as the plane turned, the engines' nozzles shifted to more properly direct the thrust, and the nose pitched upwards as the plane rapidly executed a climbing turn, going through a full 180 degrees before leveling off.

"As you can see, the F-21 uses thrust vectoring technology to good effect. Without it, that chandelle would have not been so tight, nor would I now be flying at my current speed of Mach 1.8. Of course, had I been higher up, that would've been Mach 2. Now for some more complex maneuvers, to further demonstrate the thrust-vectoring abilities of the Anteater. First, a Kulbit -" María took the plane into a tight loop, using its thrust-vectoring to full effect - "then a J-turn" - she increased her angle of attack, went past stall, and 'coned' into her new flight path - "then a Cobra Turn" - keeping her plane above the airfield - "and finally, a reverse Pugachev." All that was impressive, but would've been more impressive had the YL-104 not done the same, only more cleanly.

María then took the plane into a Pylon Eight, looping around the front and back ends of the runway, with the F-21's belly up, as she discussed the combat capabilities of the F-21. She then rolled the plane and flew in a diving curve, showing off the plethora of missiles on the Anteater's hardpoints. And her demonstration continued from there...
---
"That was nice," the Kargucagstani ace said diplomatically once she landed. It'll wow the press, but not the professionals, he did not add.

"Hey, I got to put on a show. So what if the last group did, too? That happens at every airshow," María replied.

Great, another mood swing? Well, at least it was a nice mood.

"You idiot! Haven't you heard about the Idiotstanis buying from where? From where?" Cecily Lockhelm spoke out loudly from the meeting room, a large rounded room with a circular table, cameras spread everywhere and a set of monitors at its very center showing many types of relevant information about the Aero Kargucagstan. And a huge annotation in white paper stickied by a pushpin onto the very center of the room, a simple word explaining much of the commotion that was happening.

"Fascists! You want to sell it to the fascists! Our instrument of FREEDOM!" shouted an old man as he raised from the tall leather chair he sat at, one of the old school anarchists, who tended to put idealism ahead of practicality, and in his angry rant against the proposal, he insisted, "no logical fallacies will hide this! It is irrelevant that a bunch of imbeciles in Kahanistan procured technology from the very nation that destroyed theirs. It is irrelevant the Allanean furries buy from Doomingsland! It is irrelevant what the rest of the world does! We cannot sell out our ideological integrity like filthy capitalist pigs! We cannot let our tools be used to bomb innocents and oppressed, to breed tyranny and fascism! Look, do you want to make the same fatal mistake the "anarchists" of the past have done?" he affirmed with the certainty of a fanatic, gesturing wildly to the many who watched the event, and trying to make a logical point among his passionate demonstration of his belief.

"We are not surrendering ourselves to the fascists here, or trying to negotiate the maintenance of our organization in the order of the victors for selfish means. These are entirely different circumstances... and besides, we will be able to invest its results into research that will allow us to improve every aspect of our civilization!" Cecily countered as she stroke the wooden surface of the table, and argued to the massive Agora that a MilNet meeting tended to be, "face it, weapons are made to kill, not to represent beliefs. Don't try to put them as anything else! The same AK-107 African warlords use to pillage and rape villages has been used by you and many others to free our people from tyranny. The same nuclear warheads used to inspire fear and annihilate the weak and fool are used as safeguards to the freedom of our people."

Sighing the old man sat down on his chair, as he realized that the majority wouldn't listen to the truth. The younger generations were used to pomposity and wealth, and thus have been softened by ambition and pragmatism as seeking wealth, even if for a collective, became more important than standing for what they believed. Perhaps, as power corrupts, the Confederacy would be the first to suffer of collective corruption... a cabal of a minority of wealthy in a majority of poor and miserable civilizations ensuring the perpetuity of their prosperity with no regards to the rest of the world. Certainly not impossible, and it was very displeasing to think about. Perhaps something could yet be done, but not now, for the decision was already set, and the old man could only hope the CL-32 would fail at convincing Kargucagstan to procure it, something he wished for dearly, as did many in the MilNet, contradicting what the owners of a private organization would logically think.

The screens began to show the percentages, it was a tough and polemic choice regardless of being approved by most, as 54% voted for and 46% against the policy of presenting the CL-32 Buitre (http://forums3.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=554394) to the fascist nation of Kargucagstan in their exposition. At least the ads labeling it as the "Freedom Fighter" would removed from both physical and online spaces should Kargucagstan decide to pick it from the myriad of different competitors, which were superior to it in some aspects, but not in others, like expected.

Perhaps transparency would be its greatest advantage, for the CL-32 announcements weren't featured by excessive superlatives over-hyping its strengths and diminishing the relevance of traded-off shortcomings. It is extremely cost-effective for what it offers, able to take-off and land from nearly anywhere, quite fast, great in avionics and targeting systems, and perhaps the most maintenance-easy and cheap full stealth fighter to date, but it equally had the shortcomings of a relatively limited payload as a pure and light air superiority fighter with its small wingspan optimized for high speed flight, halved if full stealth was needed, in comparison to bigger and more expensive fighters around. And as a nearly fully dedicated air superiority fighter, it would never do the work of a tactical bomber properly, specially its main version which can't even be fitted with bombs in its internal carriage, a trade-off to maximize stealth capabilities its E variants don't possess, while it would never be as maneuverable as a F-5 Freedom fighter, although it could be argued most modern air superiority fighters weren't built with maximum maneuverability in mind, and it still was better than a F-22 in such aspect.

Despite the controversy, the MilNet decided to make a major presentation of their most known aircrafts with the aid of the AEROCON Aerospace Industries Confederation, and thus three CL-32A, one CL-32AE, one CB-1 Miaja strike fighter and one CE-3 Cuervo electronic warfare aircraft were sent onboard a Libertarian Class Cruiser-Carrier to be transported to their destination. A less... aggressive mean of transportation than a standard STOBAR aircraft carrier was suggested, but it wouldn't be as optimal, and as the distance from international waters to the intended LZs was not too large to make it impossible for the aircrafts to land, it wouldn't make a incursion on Kargucagstani seas. And a single unescorted carrier with five airplanes and half of its usual crew wouldn't be seem as much of a threat anyway.

It was... a nameless group who would take the not so glorious task of demonstrating the CL-32 and other aircrafts of the AEROCON to fascist customers of Kargucagstan. A squadron nonetheless, as long as a group of bored young fighter pilots for not being considered ready to join the campaign against Soviet Spain, who never met themselves before, could be called a squadron. People who compensated with talent and boldness what they lacked in experience. People who could probably try to make stunts in a B-52 no matter how they could end dead for doing it... and in truth, people too irresponsible to participate of a real war for now.

After months of travel, the carrier was very close to the territorial waters of Kargucagstan, and thus the pilots readied to take off while dummy YCC (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5053) and HH-88 missiles were loaded into their aircrafts as they were fueled, besides the live payload of small diameter bombs, guided missiles, rockets and live ammunition in the Miaja for its demonstration in the secondary show. Esteban Orinoco was one of the youngest, with only 23 years of age, and no matter how he joined the Air Force when he was just twelve, he was still a rookie, but a rookie with fiber and talent. To be tasked to lead a small squadron of four CL-32 by himself was no easy responsibility, despite how simple it seemed to be, in a superficial glance. Like most, he was another pragmatic, who saw the advantages of applying realpolitik, to an extent, in the way they dealt with other civilizations. Yet he swallowed his anxiety to let professionalism rise, and was the first to take off from the carrier, as the lift fan turned on and its hatch was opened. With no sort of catapult or arrestor gear, it successfully took off.

The interior was not easy to forget. Its displays were the equivalent of a geek's dream without being overloaded in information. Heads-left, heads-down and heads-right displays complemented the standard-issue HUD with many things... a sort of multi-function display set, as he said. To let the voice of the pilot determine the configurations of such hardware was essential to allow it to be used at maximum capability, although touch interface also worked, something which was only convenient while not in combat. His choice was awareness. The lower display was set for primary targeting, displaying the radar as it detected other approaching aircrafts and tried to compare their RCSes with its internal database to identify them, and soon three-letter codes appeared at all dots, most indicating the estimated type of aircraft, like ASF or SB, while a few had an abbreviated name of their real models, those which the MilNet had in their database. Switching a button for fun, he selected one of them, and to the right of the radar in the lower screen, information regarding estimated relative distance, speed and acceleration of the target, among known technical data that would be relevant in a battle scenario like missile payload, ECCM and radar type and effective range. Although any decent pilot should be aware of what they were facing, having a reminder wasn't a bad idea. The left display was set for secondary targeting, as the pilot selected another target to be displayed at it and tracked by the avionics in parallel to the primary target. Once both were close enough, target locks would begin to be set against them, and if they were enemies, he would be able launch missiles against both, simultaneously by using a secondary fire button on the control stick.

The six STOL aircrafts flew towards the island of Hypatos, making their way through the dry land. As after a few hours, the harbors and landscape were sighted, they began to make their way towards the closest landing spot: a road fifteen kilometers south from Lerichos which was built for automobiles rather than for airplanes. Not only it would be convenient as fuel was running out for they were close to their CB-1 combat range, but it would already serve as a demonstration of the Datalink, and of the way network-centric warfare was applied to their technologies.

As they lowered their altitude and speed, they formed up in a line with less than fifteen meters separating each aircraft. It was time to demonstrate one of the most logistically interesting capabilities of what they were trying to sell. Preparing to land, Esteban spoke through his communicator to issue what was necessary to allow a safe landing, in the only language everybody of their multi-ethnic team was fluent at, English:

"All pilots! Sync your FADECS and Autopilots."

Then he took notice of how he configured his right display, as it exhibited a message "Autopilots unified for synchronous landing procedure. Puppet Control on." Then, for his amusement, he pulled the joystick slightly to the left, as all the six aircrafts banked slightly to the left, and then leveled his fighter again, as all of them mimicked its movements perfectly, for he could directly control them for now, as sharing radar feed wasn't enough.

Their lift fans were activated again, as they began to significantly decelerate, approaching their very stall speeds under normal circumstances, with the exception of the Miaja, which had a quite small stall speed, and thus they began to approach the road, as their landing gear extended automatically, and touched the road while the CL-32s were flying at half of their stall speed, sustained only by their lift fans. They took no more than three hundred meters to completely stop moving, although the Miaja could have taken less if the synchronous landing was disable, with a perfect line and nearly the same distances they kept in air maintained. A local airshow team already was there to refuel their airplanes, and as they came in soon, there would be a couple of hours to enjoy as much as anarchists could... a fascist island, before going down to businesses.

Thus while others were hyping their planes, the pilots of the Confederacy airshow took some taxis and headed to a typical Kargucagstani pub to have some non-alcoholic drinks while they waited for their turn to demonstrate their fighters. They were particularly able to blend, as they wore no uniforms, and despite the sort of treatment foreigners would expect, there seemed to be nothing that would deserve an eyebrow there.

There was no clear distinction between fun and business time in the Confederacy, and even in their military, if a private organization of ideologically-loaded mercenaries integrated into an industrial complex could be called one, the line between job and leisure was blurred.

Meanwhile, at the stand of the MilNet, a bored "officer", or more exactly a man who "cosplayed" a military officer, as in MilNet slang, greeted the local tester, offering him a dinner with paella in a nearby restaurant and avoiding to bother him with the usual corporate hyping that other might have done. He would have two hours to make a good impression for the tester, to, like in the Illuminatus! trilogy was written, organize for anarchy, or prove anarchy is organized despite the initial strangeness of having both. Regardless, who would really make the difference were the pilots, currently enjoying their time in a pub together with some off-duty personell and locals. Later, they would run the show.

OOC: Reaver truck coming later.

The Layartebian Defense Corporation saw Aero Kargucagstan as a perfect opportunity to debut its F-58 Viper (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5383) multirole, advanced-technology fighter as well as to demonstrate the M2061 Reaver tactical truck to even more potential customers. The Viper meet all of the requirements that Aero Kargucagstan established. It was a multirole fighter, it cost well under $110,000,000 per unit, it had a phased-array radar, and it was rather stealthy in certain configurations. Like the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor, the F-58 Viper was a fifth generation aircraft. Though originally offered in only a single-seat variant, the LDC Aerospace Division had configured the F-58B Viper, the export variant to the F-58D Viper with a two-seat configuration, sacrificing some fuel, much like in the F-16 Falcon.

While the Layartebian pilot watched all of the aerobatics from the various aircraft being performed he couldn't help but be impressed. There were many aircraft from many air forces there, all competing for a very lucrative and very long-term contract to provide the Free World Empire of Kargucagstan with its new fighter. Figures put over two thousand companies from three hundred nations at the event and the Empire's Layartebian Defense Corporation was easily pushed into the background amongst much bigger nations. He would have his own chance to woo the crowd and it was definitely something he knew he could do, even as he stepped up to the ladder on the side of his fighter and climbed in, seated in front of a pilot from the Kargucagstani Air Force, who had already made himself comfortable. A former major with the Imperial Layartebian Air Force, Mike "Angel" McCloud had retired in 2004 after his aircraft had been engaged and shot down by a surface-to-air missile during the Conquests, over Cuba. He ejected and spent five days behind enemy lines before he was rescued, evading capture at every turn. Now he was a test pilot with the Layartebian Defense Corporation. Unable to back away from flying, something he loved, he found the job to be much more beneficial. The pay was better, the risk was considerably lower, and he never had to worry about being shot down again.

He sat himself down in the seat and a ground crewman stepped up to the ladder with his helmet. He and his Kargucagstani Air Force counterpart had met earlier in the day, shared their stories, and felt entirely comfortable with one another. His counterpart was a lieutenant colonel, one rank hiring than he had been but he was a civilian now. His counterpart's name was Jeff "Lightning" Maladory. "Ready back there?" Mike said as he put on his helmet and the ground crewman gave the thumbs up and stepped down the ladder, pulling it away from the aircraft. He pulled them both away and the aircraft was on its own.

"Definitely ready!" The canopy remained open as Mike flipped switches, turned knobs, and ignited the two LDC-AE-82A afterburning turbofan engines. Each engine was capable of putting out 93.41 kN of thrust at maximum military power and 153.46 kN of thrust in full afterburning mode. There were three afterburning stages and that was the highest stage. It could propel an aircraft loaded for air-to-air combat duty down a run and into the air in as little as 320 meters. The two engines came online and the roar began, a high-pitched whine that would grow into a deafening roar eventually. The delta-winged, 19.51 meter long aircraft sat in an area behind the main spectators, where, if something went catastrophically wrong, nobody would be harmed. Its wingspan was 12.80 meters and to the top of its tail was a height of 5.03 meters. It wasn't the biggest aircraft there but it wasn't the smallest either. Weighing 17,781 kg empty and capable of taking off at a weight of up to 38,555 kg, the Viper carried up to 11,340 kg of fuel in the single-seat and up to 10,660 kg of fuel in the two-seat version. Both versions could carry up to 9,435 kg of ordinance internally in a single weapons bay and externally on nine pylons.

Part of the requirements was that the aircraft carry and equivalent combat load in dummy stores and fuel but all of its stores weren't dummy stores. The Viper was going to be using the bombing range to showcase its air-to-ground and its air-to-air capabilities. It was even carrying its full load of bullets for its internal M302A1 Mauser cannon, which was the Layartebian designation for the BK27. With a full load of 300 rounds, the aircraft could devastate just about any target but it wouldn't be using the gun. When the LDC was told to carry a combat load, they went to every possible scenario. Inside its internal bay were six dummy AIM-120D AMRAAM and two dummy AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Neither were in use by the Imperial Layartebian Military but they were used to simulate what the aircraft could carry. Internally its load was limited to payloads that were up to 2,268 kg and 4.53 m³ in size. Externally, it was a different story. On its wings were eight of its nine pylons, the ninth being on the forward fuselage for carrying a designation pod of up to 363 kg, a Sniper XR in this instance. On its wings, from the fuselage outwards were a pair of drop tanks, inert items filled with a water and non-toxic chemical mixture that increased the density and weight of the water to the equivalent of jet fuel. Each of those pylons could carry up to 1,814 kg of air-to-air, air-to-ground, or other ordinance. Outwards of those were two more pylons rated for 907 kg each for air-to-air or air-to-ground ordinance. They were carrying two iron bombs, each BLU-110 460 kg bombs. They would be used on the bombing range. Outwards of those were two more pylons each rated for 454 kg of air-to-air or air-to-ground ordinance and those were carrying a trio of Brimstone anti-tank guided missiles. The final pair, just underneath the wing ends were rated for 227 kg of air-to-air ordinance and they carried two AIM-9X Sidewinders each.

The Viper would be striking four targets on the bombing range while engaging a pair of drones orbiting at 6,100 meters and 610 meters, show casing the aircraft's ability to engage high and low targets at the same time. The Viper was truly a multirole fighter, capable of flying as high as 19,812 meters, as far as 1,006 km combat or up to 4,023 km in ferry conditions with the two 2,271 liter fuel tanks externally. For this combat mission, the fuel tanks were 1,400 liters each. The Viper could fly as fast as Mach 2.65 clean at altitude or as fast as Mach 1.25 at sea level. With loaded ordinance it could fly supersonic both at low altitude and at high altitude and supercruise just the same as the F-35 and F-22, depending on its ordinance load. With a thrust-to-weight ratio of 0.81:1 at maximum weight, the aircraft was not a gas hog and its rate of climb was 280 m/s and its zoom climb limit to 28,195 meters, with specialized loadouts, allowing it to perform anti-satellite duties and snap interceptions.

Mike completed his final checks and taxied the aircraft away from the tarmac, the engines producing a dull rumble as they were pushed up to 65%, just enough to get the aircraft moving. With the canopy still open and their masks off, both Mike and Jeff waved to the crowds as they moved down the taxiway, the fighter looking sharp in its camouflaged paint scheme that wasn't much different from the F-15C Eagle and F-22A Raptor of the United States Air Force. The camouflage paint was radar absorbent and the composite airframe made the aircraft as stealthy as the F-22 was without external ordinance. As the Viper passed the end of the crowds, Mike lowered and locked the canopy, shutting out the noise of its engine rumbling behind them. He taxied the fighter to the beginning of the runway and held short, applying the brakes and reducing the throttles to idle, 60%. "So why do they call you 'Angel'?" Jeff asked as the announcer introduced the aircraft.

"From the Layartebian Defense Corporation, a fifth generation, multirole fighter." The announcer began. "Capable of supersonic flight over Mach 2." He outlined the specifications in brief on the aircraft such as its weight, its range, its ceiling, and its carrying capacity, all estimating and rounding up or down, the true figures not publicly revealed. Project managers sitting inside a building behind the crowds with a high vantage point and Kargucagstani Air Force officials went over the detailed specifications. They had brochures and watched videos playing on mute as the fighter sat at the beginning of the runway.

"I got the nickname in flight school. Pissed my instructor off. I took a Texan over its maximum ceiling and he turned to me when we landed and said, 'What are you trying to do up there? Fly to heaven? What do you think you are? Some angel or something.' It stuck after that. Here we go." The announcer finished as he pushed the throttles up to their maximum military setting, then pushing them further, clicking them past the first and second afterburning stages, to the third. The aircraft held momentarily as he held the brakes. "Yee-haw!" He shouted as he let off the brakes and the Viper roared down the runway, weighing around 33,000 kg, a thrust to weight ratio of approximately 0.95:1. Roughly four to five hundred meters later, the fighter lurched into the air and assumed an immediate +25° climb. Mike rolled the aircraft over and banked hard towards the bombing range, climbing to an altitude of 1,550 meters. He kept the afterburners lit, pushing the fighter towards Mach 1 though he lowered the stages as the aircraft surpassed Mach 0.65. He couldn't exceed Mach 1, that was a big no-no at air shows and over civilian populaces. Inside the plane, Jeff was enjoying the smooth ride. "Let's vector in. Watch that radar now." Mike had activated the AN/APG-80 AESA radar as well as the Sniper XR underneath the aircraft. Inside the cockpit, the MFDs showed both what the Sniper XR was seeing as well as the radar. The crowds watched as the fighter pulled over from a hard bank, its afterburners still on stage 1. The bombing range's four targets were clearly identified and he would take them out on a single pass. Two of the targets were moving tanks, pulled along a path by train tracks. The other two were a pair of paper mesh targets spread across the ground, staggered one behind the other. One pass was all it would take. The fighter lined up from 20 km out and Mike quickly targeted the two tanks with his Sniper XR and released both Brimstone missiles from 10 km away. The two missiles left two sides of the aircraft, leaving four dummy missiles behind. Streaking away, guided by their MMW seeker, the missiles honed in on the targets while Mike aimed for the paper targets. From 3,500 meters, he put his aircraft into a shallow dive and activated his CCIP HUD display. The computer calculated thousands of variables from weather and air conditions to the conditions aboard the aircraft. Even humidity and air pressure was taken into account as the CCIP reticule traveled over the ground in the aircraft's shallow, -8° dive. Once the reticule fell over the first target, Mike pickled the first bomb, releasing it. Immediately, the aircraft counterbalanced the weight loss and recalculated for the second drop, which was just 1,500 meters away. Mike dropped the second bomb and now, significantly lighter, he yanked the aircraft into a sharp climb, his afterburners on stage 3 again.

The explosions were awe-inspiring. Both Brimstones slammed into the two tanks and blew them sky high. He targeted both tanks at once and fired both missiles with a single push on the thumb trigger. They tracked independently and required no guidance from the fighter. Both bombs landed directly on their targets, the first one just 1.8 meters from the impact point, the other 1.87 meters away. With the aircraft now lighter, it was time for engaging the aircraft. It was an air-to-air engagement and Mike jettisoned the two fuel tanks. Parachutes retarded their fall so that they wouldn't be a threat to the ground and so they could be recovered and reused, not something one would find on a combat tank but these were for demonstration purposes. As they fell, they drained their water-chemical mixture to make them easier to recover. They fell near the bombing range, far away from the crowds.

Both drones were maneuvering along randomly defined paths in the sky, paths unknown to Mike as he locked both of them up with his radar. He targeted the higher drone first using his helmet mounted sight and radar, slewed the Sidewinder, and fired. It streaked away and rose sharply, striking the drone seconds later, blasting it to pieces. Then, Mike rolled his aircraft over and put himself in a shallow dive, targeted the second drone, slewed his sidewinder, and fired. The drone was off to his 10 o'clock but the Sidewinder locked, tracked, and struck. "That's two!" Jeff yelled from the backseat. He still had three minutes and now he was going to showcase the fighter's agility. He pulled several hard maneuvers over the airfield, causing vapor clouds to rise every time he did, pulling the aircraft into a loop, turning it every which way, showcasing its pinpoint maneuverability and its tight turning using its thrust-vectoring engines, which allowed for pitch and yaw control ±35°. Its quick, snap-like maneuvers would certainly impress everyone there. Because its maneuvers were quick, it bled less airspeed and remained combat viable no matter what the situation. From the front, the aircraft retained a high-pitched, low whine and the deep, rumble from the rear. The pilot finished off with a series of flips over the airfield before finally brining it in for a landing, using up just eight hundred meters of the runway to land the aircraft.

"So what'd you think?" Mike asked Jeff as he taxied the aircraft past the crowd again, on its way back to the tarmac, its canopy up, both of them waving.

"Impressive. I wouldn't mind flying it myself." He said into his microphone. With the canopy open it was very difficult to hear each other without the aide of the communication system.

Inside the VIP lounge, the LDC officials and Kargucagstani Air Force officials clapped. The aircraft had certainly impressed them and it was certainly a contender but the final decision was far from being made. They were impressed with the aircraft all around but they had their concerns. The export variant wasn't fitted the powerful AMAR and AMAS sensors that the Layartebian domestic variant had and, instead, used common-market technology but they were assured, they could put whatever radar they wanted into the aircraft as well as their own EO/IR sensor. It had space for those. If the Kargucagstani Air Force took the Viper, they would be getting the F-58E Viper for single-seat and F-58F Viper for twin-seat training purposes. They would cost $85,000,000 each with whatever modifications the Kargucagstani Air Force wished, which were most likely to be avionics related. Those were details to discuss after final judging had taken place.

"The M2061 Reaver tactical truck," a beautiful woman who could have been a model, said into a microphone from atop a podium. She was there to talk about and sell the M2061 Reaver (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/M2061_Reaver) tactical truck, one of the newest and most versatile vehicles produced by the Layartebian Defense Corporation. The Reaver originated back to the year 2000 when the Imperial Layartebian Military began a program to replace most of its logistics and light infantry vehicles from front-line service. It was designed from the MTR.VII Neco, a Doomani-made light-MLRS launcher. "Is the newest and most bad ass piece of equipment made by the LDC's Land Division. This vehicle is fully twenty-first century. This single vehicle can accept modules that can turn it into any of the following. Try to stay with me," she said with a smile as she stepped away from the podium revealing that she was wearing a tight, red and black dress, heels, and she could definitely get away with wearing it too. She stood 5'9" but she was skinny with long, red hair, her long legs smooth as silk. At the very least, she would become fantasies in many men's minds and she didn't wear her wedding ring either. "Logistics, medium MLRS, tanker, wrecker, tractor, dump truck, light MLRS, guided missile launcher, ambulance, fire pumper, mobile bridge, electric generator, and transporter erector launcher. A lot huh? That's just what's out right now! It can accept many more. Pick up a brochure and read it, get excited by it, and know that if you buy it, you're buying a lot more than a frame with wheels." She smiled again, her pearly white teeth glistening in the sun. Behind her was the light MLRS variant, its outriggers extended and its launcher unit pivoted to -25° from center and raised by +10° in elevation.

"Now you have the specifications in front of you so I'm not going to go over the dimensions here. Why bother? Are you interested?" She turned the microphone to the crowd and, enthusiastically, they yelled back, "No." "I didn't think so. So what do you want to know? It's engine. Yeah. It's engine. How about five hundred and fifty horsepower. Two thousand pounds of torque. Four-stroke. Diesel or bio-diesel. Hydrogen fuel too. Ten point three liter, and a six cylinder 'vee' engine. She'll carry almost five hundred and seventy liters of fuel and get one point three kilometers per liter for a range of about seven hundred and forty kilometers. It'll even go eighty-eight kilometers per hour on road, sixty-four off road, up thirty degrees, or across seventeen degrees.

"How about its weapons? Yeah you want that." The crowd gave their approval. "Alright the basic truck can carry a remote weapon system with a variety of machine guns or grenade launchers. How about twelve hundred rounds of 7.62 millimeter ammunition, ninety-six 40 millimeter grenades, or five hundred rounds of .50 caliber ammunition? Sounds good right? Yeah it'll carry all of that and more! Now how about those rocket launchers? This one right here is the light MLRS. It'll hold up to forty-eight rockets, each one capable of flying up to seventy-two kilometers away in light variants and fifty for heavier ones. Medium caliber? Thirty tubes, each rocket capable of flying from sixty-four to one hundred and five kilometers away. What about large caliber? Something big? With a big, heavy warhead? A single missile, up to nine thousand kilograms, maybe two, depending, with a range of almost nine hundred kilometers for light payloads or five hundred and sixty-five for heavy payloads. Those are just the missiles of the Imperial Layartebian Military. Your missiles could go further?" She smiled and people were nodding.

"Let's go to some minor details on each of the variants. The ambulance will hold two stretchers, one rider, and one attendee. The fire pumper can hold a one thousand gallon pump with almost a kilometer of hose. Both of those can cover your civilian agencies as well. The bridge module will hold a single bridge and can both deploy and recover it. The dump truck can hold up to fifty and a half cubic meters of refuse up to twenty-three and a half tonnes in weight. The electrical generator has two one hundred and fifty kilowatt generators and enough fuel to let them run for fourteen hours, continuously, per generator or a single four hundred kilowatt generator and eight hours of operation. The guided missile launcher can be your newest SAM or SSM TEL with eight, ten, seven, six, however many round canisters you need. The logistics flatbed will carry up to twenty-seven and a quarter tonnes. The wrecker can tow the same amount. Now the tanker module. Water? Almost nineteen thousand liters. Jet fuel? Twenty-two thousand, five hundred liters. Ethanol? almost twenty-three thousand liters. And gasoline? Over twenty-four thousand liters. And the tractor. Well that'll replace your HET and tow a main battle tank if needed.

"Sounds good right? Well. Just climb on board and see for yourself." The quick demo was over and now people were invited to step inside and see the vehicle from any angle they so desired, so long as it was accessible.

“And that was an excellent show by the Layartebian F-58 Viper, demonstrating its venerable design and solid performance!”

“That’s right, Ted. Well, it’s five days into this show and we’ve seen a huge number of aircraft, both in static displays and high-flying demonstrations. Yes, only one day left and it’s shaping up to be a doozy!”

“Yessir, it sure is Dan. You know, I think the aircraft that have really stood out to me have been the light fighters, the Brigand, Lone Ranger and the Buitre, which it looks like are just leaving entering the third display area at Abraxas A.F.B. Boy, that was one hell of a demonstration, wasn’t it?”

“Hoo-boy, was it ever. I’ve never seen planes sync up like that during a landing. I understand that, from the official documents that was all done by computer, not pilot training. Electronics these days, I tell you.”

“You know, Dan, when I was growing up in my native Velkya I lived next to an airbase for a few years, and seeing that Brigand jump about like that sure brings back memories. I tell you, though, in my neck of the woods ‘viffing’ meant something entirely different!”

“Oh ho ho! I think we all know what you mean. What about that Lone Ranger, though? Slick as a bullet and, if I’ve read my briefing documents correctly, damn near as fast. But you know, I hold those heavy fighters closer to my heart. They can carry more, fly faster, higher, longer, and we have seen some excellent ones this week.”

“Sure have, but you know, all that performance comes at a cost. They’re big and heavy and cost a lot more to maintain. The Phantom from Jeuna looks like a beast to work on.”

“Well, whether or not that’s true I don’t know, but it’s certainly a beast at flying! I swear, if we had had that plane back in ‘04 I might be chatting up a few more old war friends than I do now. Hold on, got something in my eye.”

“Now hey there, don’t be like that, Dan. You know, there’s also that Anteater to look over. Boy, is she a beut’ or what? Big and ugly as they come but from what rumors have been circulating through the crowds she can lift a mountain… and then use it to bomb another mountain! I got a chance to go down there yesterday and check it out up close, just feels like a solid plane.”

“Yeah, yeah, it sure is. But there’s also the Dreamfalcon from Scandavian States. The first thing I noticed about this craft is not noticing it- it slipped in under airfield radar and was nearly at the end of the runway before ground crew even knew it was here! She’s big and heavy, but it sure is stealthy. It‘s also supposed to be a prototype, which would allow ease of modification- another bonus.”

“I think the exact opposite of the Dreamfalcon at the show is probably the Cutlass. Been in service for decades, rugged old airframe, tested and true, if unimaginative. Not a lick of stealth, either.”

“Really, that appeals to me more. No slinking around, hiding from the enemy. No, it’s up, in-your-face combat like it was meant to be! Reminds me a bit of the Viper, which if my binoculars don’t betray me is currently swarmed with a mob of tourists trying to get holiday photos next to its still-hot engines. What a plane. Of course, the event’s not over yet so there’s still a few more planes scheduled to fly, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the best was yet to come. Only time will tell, I suppose.”

***

Abraxas AFB
Abraxas, Hypatos Island, Kargucagstan

Ioannis Papagoulias was careful not to show any signs of a break in composure as he and the Corporate pilot strode away from her aircraft, although he had an immense urge to grasp his stomach and take a few deep breaths. Flying combat missions over some nameless hellhole was great, he could do that, but without the joy’ in his palm and a HUD in his face flying just didn’t feel right, made him nauseous. Of course, he could never let that on, not now. Tired-looking air crew and engineers waved to the two pilots as they walked in the opposite direction, dragging fuel hoses and compressor lines to the uni-jacks in the plane. An event this large called for a huge number of qualified personnel to service the craft, and despite there being so many the workload was extreme.

“Speaking as a test pilot,” Ioannis said as he brushed a hand through his hair, “and without considering me a potential customer, how do you feel this aircraft would perform in Kargucagstani service?” Maria Aviation just laughed.

“If I didn’t consider everybody and everything a potential customer,” she said in accepted Greek, “I wouldn’t be doing my job, now would I?”

“Well, I suppose not. But still, I’m curious to hear your real feelings about the airframe.”

“Of course. I know that some of the higher-ups have prepared a room for just this sort of discussion, so if you don’t mind I suggest we adjourn to there.” She motioned towards the shadow of the closest hanger, motioning for him to lead, a suggestion he gladly followed.

Elsewhere

The No Endorsians were crazy. There was simply no other explanation. The thought that the pilot was some sort of radiologically-contaminated terrorist passed through the Kargucagstani test pilot’s head, right before This νόθος is trying to kill me. The ZLL had been intense enough, but these maneuvers were quite extreme. If the airframe didn’t fall apart then he would probably go into cardiac arrest any moment now. Footloose blaring over the headsets didn’t help any.

If I make it out of this alive, he thought in the brief gasps of sanity between 9G turns, I will do everything in my power to keep this plane from being purchased.

Bombing range

The Cutlass had some extremely impressive electronics, the Fascist had to admit

EDIT: More to come tomorrow (Sunday)

The pilots spent only thirty minutes in the pub, drinking alcohol-less beverages chatting in English about how much they would rather to be in flying in the war against the "damn commies" right now, and the occasional comment on the latest Internet meme among other things which were too specific of their culture to even be relevant for anyone who might have listened. Paying their bills, they left the place to the alleviation of many who dwelt there. Outside, as they waited for a taxi, one of them commented to Esteban:

"Esteban... I've been thinking. I know it is not really relevant in a sense because if it doesn't happen with our planes, it will with others, but... I realize that no matter how well paid we'll be for this, I am feeling really bad about this," and he lowered his voice as he approached Esteban, to whisper on his left ear, "I would feel guilty if I ever seen our birds being used to bomb freedom fighters and to kill and oppress innocents because then we would be the primary responsible for it. Really, I... don't want to do this anymore... I don't want to have my consciousness tarnished once it happens."

Escobar wanted to ignore, but he knew it would eventually happen. They wouldn't even have gone if not for the promise of a bonus to their part in the cooperative, and now he pondered, not answering immediately to what his friend said. Perhaps the older generation of anarchist was not more idealistic, but wiser, and perhaps selling off to fascist in exchange of wealth could trigger the beginning of the decay for their civilization. People still were inspired by examples, and what example would come from self-proclaimed anarchists selling their tools of wars for fascists and tyrants to use against freedom? What would the future generations take from it?

This isn't right... but how do we get out of here?

It was the only conclusion for Escobar. Not a particularly difficult choice to make. There were no court martials... soldiers who defected to fascist, stalinist or capitalist enemies of the Confederacy were just summarily shot on sight, no matter how ironic it was. They could technically be called for ostracism because of it, but the heavy opposition to the participation of the MilNet in the airshow would be a nearly flawless safeguard to being discharged by voting. In truth, outside the military the majority of the population would probably laud them for refusing to "sell out" to the fascists and "risking" their memberships in a prosperous organization like the MilNet for it. The only problem was how to get out. The aircraft carrier that sent them was already out of the operational range of their aircrafts, although it may still be at their ferry range, and even if they managed to reach it, they would have to convince most of its crew to agree with them. Plus, avoiding to meet with the fascist test pilot would be another challenge. Some of them would certainly not like to discover a demonstration was canceled because they are, as they would call them far away from their presence, "fascist pigs".

And he wasn't sure about the opinion of the others, but it wasn't particularly difficult to convince all of them to turn back on the prospect of showing off an instrument of freedom for fascists to use for oppression. No pragmatism would hide the sort of atrocities they would eventually see done by a CL-32 or CB-1 and how they would remind of such day should they go forward with this. For strong morals and ideals were still at the heart of them, and thus, a proposal was forwarded in a whisper to everyone by Escobar, as they got their heads close to each in a circle:

"Lets get out of here and move to the Iberian Theatre! It'll be much more useful to the cause of freedom. And it might get us enough recognition to craft custom medals with meaning."

As expected, everyone was thinking the same thought, one way or another, but luck wasn't on Esteban side. As they reached the landing zone of their airplanes, the test pilot was already waiting for Esteban, clearly a bit too early as there were still an hour and fifteen minutes for their scheduled presentation to happen. There was only one thing Esteban could do. There was no open statement that they would start their maneuvers from such road rather than from one of the airfields or simulated carrier airstrips.

"I apologize sir, but our presentation will happen in C1. We'll meet you there in an hour." was the brief but plausible explanation he gave, already expecting a predictable counter-argument.

"Wait a minute. I wish to take a seat in one of your Buitre fighters, to already check the internal interfaces of its avionics on live exercise."

"Yanos Kure, may I indulge you a favor before we start? We have made on-the-fly exchanges on our flight routine which will require the installation of fuel pods under all of their wet hardpoints, could you contact the management of Aero Kargucagstan to send in some compatible pods here and ship the missiles to our stand?"

Sighing at the clear lack of proper organization of such anarchists, he nodded and said with a veil of politeness as good as the veil of honesty behind the reasons why such pods were needed: "Very well, fortunately there are some spare pods nearby. I will contact the logistical personell to bring them."

He wasn't very satisfied as he left. And at last, after twenty minutes the pods came, but the test pilot didn't. It was the opportunity they needed. The others who were still there were irrelevant. They simply began to climb the stairs to the open cockpits with their support. A good thing about tricking fascists was that their lower ranks didn't tend to question orders. A bad thing was how the mid and higher ranks could be extremely troublesome to deceive sometimes.

With everything clear, they took off from the road, this time more conventionally as the autopilots and FADECS weren't synchronized again. There was enough of showing off as of now already, and they were certainly not seeking to make a good impression... and no airshow would be a serious argument against procuring the CL-32. Of course... in their paranoia, and another reason why the sync wasn't used, all of them went at EMCON 0 and turned off their active radars. Low pass flight wasn't what the CL-32 airframe was built for, but its technically full authority digital engine control compensated part of it with its capability of resorting to vectored thrust and movements of control surfaces to compensate for the instability of a tailless airframe. Low pass wasn't enough either to describe it... for it was insanely low pass, with less than ten meters separating their planes from the ground surface. And despite the fuel pods, the low pass flight combined with their stealth design, which went far enough to sacrifice what would otherwise be an excellent maneuverability in exchange of a lower RCS, meant they would manage to get under the radar for their long trip towards the estimated position of the Carrier by now, using only the internal navigation system, based on complex and precise calculations of speed, acceleration and direction and on zeroing the coordinates of the plane before taking off instead of resorting to external sources guidance which would cut off their EMCON, as it showed, usually on the heads-down display, the location of the planes on a map.

The CB-1 on the other hand... could almost be hit by the trees as it flew nearly touching the ground to compensate for its lack of stealth. There might have been crazy pilots in old An-2s doing this, but even them weren't as extreme as people daring to make such flight at half of the speed of sound. Fortunately its airframe was optimal for low altitude flights, as any close air support airplane should, and thankfully, as time passed and Esteban always felt worried about the excessive daringness of its pilot even by their standards, no accidents happened.

Hours of flight were taken, and eventually they managed to catch up with the same aircraft carrier that brought them there. It would prove a loud argument with its crew as Esteban resorted to the sort of rhetoric more expected from a politician than from a fighter pilot to stand for idealism. After two hours of discussion, most of the crew Libertarian Class Cruiser-Carrier agreed to resupply in Hampshire Haven Harbor to then head to the Spanish channel to support their war effort.

The unfortunate "officer cosplayer" who had to deal with the frustrated test pilot simply did the best he could. Offering all sorts of pleasantries to him in the hopes he would at least have his mood improved. He refused to discuss the insubordination or to argue about the fascist comments about their military, thinking to himself on how, should they ever enter in conflict with Kargucagstan, such impression they left could lead them to underestimate the military of the Confederacy, and at least something good would come from joining the event. Of course, the YCC missile (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=5053) was still on display. Not with much flashy or a woman spouting buzzwords, but it was there, and perhaps it could be procured.

Or perhaps, for the disgrace of Esteban and his buddies, their behavior wouldn't serve to prevent the Kargucagstani air force from procuring their planes based purely on technical merits and on live records of the CL-32 performance in the war against the People's Republic of Spain.

And thus, just like it once happened in Layarteb as pilots refused to demonstrate their planes due to ideological reasons... history repeated again and another diplomatic fiasco could come.

[BOMBING RANGE, NORTHWEST OF HYPATOS ISLAND]
[AIR-TO-GROUND COMBAT DEMONSTRATION]
The number two of No.34(F) Sqn, Erica Blickenstaff, was smiling in her pilot's helmet. “Alright, Mr. Brasus Ario, I hope you enjoyed the other day's display! Now, what I'm going to do is a bit more interesting for you.” The monitors in the back seat began to flicker and pulse into life, a series of flat screen LCDs with a matte finish. On them were displayed various amounts of tactical information, such as airspeed, possible targets, current weapons loadout, and more things that any Guy In Back needs to know regarding the fact that they may or may not be shot down within the next few minutes. “On the screens in front of you will be all the information that a rear-seat operator would need to know to determine what to do next. All of that is almost entirely unnecessary at the moment, as we will be flying this aircraft in single-operator mode. That is, it's just like I'm flying a single-seat variant, but everything that you'd normally see is displayed in front of you.” She smiled to herself again. “Basically, it's kinda like a demonstration mode!”

The Kargucan nodded at the information being displayed in front of him. “I rather like how much screen real estate there is. There is much information being displayed. As well, I'm glad that you've kept legacy instruments as well.”

“Don't talk to me about that.” Erica grinned. “Talk to the guys on the ground later. But I'll take that as a compliment! Now, if you don't mind – I'm not going to do any special acrobatics or anything. I've been asked by the Genoard marbleheads to not bother, since all the planes here are pretty much capable of the same repertoire of tricks. There's no real use for hypermaneuverability demonstrations, in their eyes. But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have some other sorts of fun! Ready in your back seat?” She smiled again, a bit of a flare starting to pop up in her eyes.

Ario shrugged. “Do your worst. I'm sure that it's not going to be much more terrible than what my friend in the Endorsian aircraft went through.”

“Alrighty! Since we're carrying a payload, the plane's a bit weighted down, but not too badly. Even with the armaments outside the plane, I think we'd be able to be capable of a bit of fun. So I'm going to zoomclimb after accelerating over that runway over there--!” She pushed full forward speed on the engines, lighting the afterburners, accelerating to a particularly high velocity at low level. “Pulling up now!” She yanked the stick back as the systems in the plane screamed out the electronic equivalent of HOLY SHIT MAN YOU'RE GOING TOO FAST FUCK WE'RE LIMITING THE PLANE TO 8.8G SO YOU DON'T FUCKING DIE, the Cutlass easily capable of maintaining speed due to its high thrust-to-weight ratio. As the force from the turn eased off when the plane hit an 85 degree climb, Erica was able to talk again. “Woo! Anyways, I'm going to push the plane to an altitude of 14000 feet-- here--” She pushed the stick forward, allowing the plane to re-enter into level flight-- “and begin on the bomb run to our destination. Payload today is displayed on the screen in front of you, as I stated earlier.”

Ario took the opportunity to pay far more attention to the screen below him. There were two modified R-77s in the role of air-to-surface missiles for use against radar, a load of 8 Small Diameter Bombs for anti-building and emplacement work, twelve Brimstone missiles for use against tanks, and... “Unguided rockets? You're carrying 76 air to ground rockets on this aircraft. Rather unusual, after the mass of guided weapons.”

“Ah, those? Those are just for fun, really – adds smoke, and they hurt whatever we're firing at. I think I want to bust up one of those infantry lines with them... Anyways – ready for the show?”

“Yes, I do believe I am. You may fire when ready, miss.” Ario settled back into his seat as the demonstration took a more violent turn.

At a range of 80 nautical miles, she jolted the stick, rolling the Cutlass onto its back, and pulled the plane into a reverse dive. The targeting pod systems on the furthest pylons began to illuminate targets for the SDBs to fall upon as the radar also began to search for sources of radar energy that may be attempting to lock on to the aircraft. Sure enough, the two designated radar panels for targeting went active and were nearly immediately locked onto by the anti-radiation missiles. The targeting system also began pointing out targets to the Brimstone's system, waking the missiles up from their slumber and allowing them to fall into readiness to fire.

Rockets don't need any prepping, so they just stayed there.

“I would like to note before I start shooting that the twin-pod system isn't the only option – the Strike Cutlass optional loadout can be controlled by a single pod as well, if that's the system you have. I just like having the twin-pod for looks, heeh. Anyways – here we go!” At 40 nautical miles, she selected the anti-radiation missiles and fired both of them, each flying towards their targets and impacting with a nice explosion. The next goal of the operation was to begin launching her Small Diameter Bombs – alright, that was easy enough, with 8 projectiles in the air, each targeting a tank or a building or something else set up. Whatever, fine. Bombs. More explosions and other similar junk on the ground. What else is new? I mean, honestly. I'm dragging on enough.

The Brimstones were rather nice in their flight patterns – 12 missiles, each launching off in their proper direction one at a time, impacting on targets one after another. Finally, the rockets. “You know, I really like rockets, because you can do things like THIS with them!” Erica stretched her legs for a moment and expertly maneuvered the aircraft using the rudder and elevator commands while firing off individual live rockets, which impacted the ground amongst the infantry targets in a rather nice series of explosions, leaving craters in a connect-the-dots layout reading “SUCK IT”. With the remaining rockets after her typing fun, Erica whooped as she rolled the plane into a strafing run against the remainder of the infantry target lines.

In the back seat, Ario merely laughed. “I would like to say, well done with that twitch movement style of maneuvering. I would also like to say that I guess I do see the use of rockets on an air superiority fighter, if only for anti-ground use.”

Blickenstaff grinned. “Well, I guess we're done with this flight for now. One of your other buddies should be coming up in the Number 3 plane right behind us, with an air-to-sea loadout.” Sure enough, as if on cue, another Cutlass rocketed across the ocean surface, firing a total of six Kh-31 air-to-surface missiles at six different targets, showcasing the multiple target capability of the radar for anti-shipping work as well.

Meh. You can't do much with air-to-sea attacks anyways, especially if you're getting rushed to get a post out.

[RUNWAY R5, ABRAXAS AIRBASE, HYPATOS ISLAND]
[FOURTH DEMONSTRATION, AT NIGHT]

“So, Captain... what was your name again?”

“. . .”

Naos Theseus stuck a finger in his ear and twisted it around, just to be sure he heard correctly. “I'm sorry, excuse me?”

“. . .”

Theseus sighed. “I'm speaking to you, Mister...?”

“. . .Roberts.”

“Thank you. Now, Captain Roberts, what is the flight plan for this one?”

“. . .”

Theseus was half an inch from pulling the ejection seat lever. “Oh, never mind. Just get on with it. I'll watch.” As he finished his sentence, Roberts gunned the throttle of the aircraft to maximum power and pulled the aircraft into a zoom climb, displaying the modified Novator KS-172 air-to-air missile underneath the plane. With the explosive removed and replaced with a kinetic energy package, and the remaining volume dedicated to a second stage to the missile, it became more than just a simple air-to-air weapon.

The Cutlass would be attacking an object in space.

Theseus grimaced in his seat as the aircraft continued to climb at its maximum thrust, pushing itself into a higher and higher realm of flight. “So this is a satellite killing mission? I hope that you're using a decommissioned one! Who knows what would happen if you target the wrong thing, yes?”

“. . .I never miss.”

_You are an excessively infuriating person, and if you were not piloting this plane, I would eject you from it immediately_ Theseus sighed, though that was instantly swallowed by the continued force of the acceleration. He decided to glance at the altimeter as the aircraft passed steadily through 30,000 feet, beginning to lose velocity in its acceleration at about 32,000. Cameras all over the ground were pointed straight up, following the point of light that was the aircraft's afterburning thrusters rising into the sky.

Finally, it happened. At a preset altitude of 43,280 feet, the KS-172 separated from the Cutlass, floating for a short amount of time before its first stage rocket activated. After a short amount of time in flight, the first stage had boosted the missile to an altitude of 186 miles, or 300km. The second stage then activated, aiming the weapon further and refining its flight path by firing a series of small thrusters, marginally changing the trajectory of the projectile. After another period of time, the third stage separated and accelerated the projectile to its maximum velocity. It was aimed at an old Aralonian satellite, one of the 1960s era, and its fragments was to fall down into a Havenic body of water after decaying in orbit. After another few minutes, with several airborne cameras pointed at it, the upper stage impacted the satellite at an altitude of 435 miles, or 700 kilometers.

“I am indeed impressed by this turn of events. You have done your country proud, it seems – very nice shot.” Theseus had just finished watching one of the relayed images on his screen, a snapshot taken slightly after the moment of impact.

“. . .Thanks.”

[BACK ON THE GROUND]

“And there you have it, folks! The successful kill of an Aralonian satellite, as performed by a missile launched from the F-s81G Cutlass. Also, as you may have heard by now, aerial photography of the event is now on sale at various booths. These photographs have been provided by another Cutlass, flying in the sky above--” The announcer was interrupted by a low-flying F-s81, equipped with a TARPS pod between the engines-- “and there he is now! Anyways, photographs of the ground are on sale. Be sure to take this opportunity to own a real piece of output from an Aralonian reconnaissance aircraft today!”

OOC: Sorry for the last minute post.

Abraxas Air Base, Hypatos Island

Former Colonel d'Air Anders Nilson, a veteran pilot of the 1990's revolution, and lead test pilot of the "Chevaliers d'air," a group of former military pilots hired by the Yanitarian companies of Groupe Air mainly for air shows, rocketed down the runway in his heavily modified Yanitarien Aérospatial Modèle 42 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14483745&postcount=7), or YA-42. He lifted off, and fell in with his knights, a total of four of the impressive air supremacy fighters which had been shipped to the airshow. Flying low and slow, they banked a hard left in a tight formation. On his radio, he heard the announcer introduce them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's hear it for the Air Knights, led by former AARY Air Colonel Anders Nilson! They are flying Yanitarian Aerospace YA-42s, notable for their forward swept wings which make them some of the most maneuverable aircraft in the world."

Nilson smiled as he muted the broadcast for a second, before speaking to his Knights, "Group, Pugachev's Cobra at standard height, steep dive, low flight, pull up and weave on my mark, and drop flares. Line formation." At this point, the commands were redundant, and mainly for the back seaters who were scoring their performance. His knights lined up, one to his left, two to his right, and together, with wings less than a meter apart, they climbed to their standard altitude. Nilson watched his men as he went through the motions of bringing his nose up until he was staring straight up, then going farther back until he was at over a 100 degree angle from his previous position (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Su-27_Cobra_2b.png), before bringing his nose back to level flight. It was an impressive aerial maneuver, but the knights didn't leave it at that. From there, they went into a steep dive heading straight for the crowd, before leveling out at 75m, the lowest altitude they felt safe at with the crowd, and flew over them before Nilson shouted "Mark!" into his head set, and they all pulled up, with Nilson and his wingman pulling right, and the other two knights pulling left very closely missing each other as they made the maneuver. After pulling up to 1000m, each pilot dropped flares, which, for the demonstration were replaced by fireworks.

With only a few minutes remaining for the finale, Nilson and his wingman flew away from the two knights as the former Air Colonel gave the order for the final maneuver. The modified YA-42's pulled Immelmann turns in a tight formation before heading directly for each other. Just as collision seemed imminent, they banked hard to their respective lefts, after activating their smoke trails. They climbed in a hard loop before turning upside down and heading towards each other, again with only a few meters to spare, and cut off the smoke trail, leaving a giant smoking heart in the sky. Nilson gunned his engine, pulling away from the group, rushing to finish before his group ran out of time, pulled an aggressive high speed turn, before activating the smoke trail again, drawing a shaft through the heart. The two Knights who hadn't been with him drew the point of the arrow as Nilson passed.

Just as his display told him that they were running over on time, Nilson finished the arrow. Taking the opportunity to do a celebratory Kulbit, that is a tight loop taking no more space than the length of the ultra maneuverable YA-42, he flew toward the landing strip.

On the Ground

Raquel Carriveau was adorably angry. As the head representative of the Groupe AIR corporations from Yanitaria, she had personally briefed the jack ass pilots on formalities. And making the time limit was an important formality. A recent college graduate, Raquel was a stunner. Dressed in a suit that cost more than her car, and armed with an impressive knowledge in both how to sell a product, and how to apply the right amount of lip gloss and cleavage to convince even the most obstinate customer, she knew that she could easily sell anything.

The Groupe AIR booths included a tent in which Raquel would take her client, display models of the YA-42 "Corsaire" (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14483745&postcount=7), the Am-22 "Boucanier" (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14483748&postcount=8), the YA-28 "Éclipse" (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14483758&postcount=10), and the DnA-30 "Cheval" (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14483754&postcount=9). It was not long before Raquel noticed a small group of officially dressed men approaching the booths. She stood up straight, took a second to take out her compact and checked her make-up, before striding over with a unique blend of confidence and predatory insight.

"Good day, my friends," she said in near perfect greek, extending an arm for the nearest one to shake, "my name is Raquel Carriveau, and I am the Yanitarian Groupe AIR representative." The men only nodded, in a somewhat spartanesque laconicism that Raquel had somewhat suspected. Perhaps it was only this group of men, out of their usual controls, that were so. They took turns introducing themselves, before Raquel guided them into the tent. The interior of the tent was luxuriously appointed with classic neo-romantic paintings which it was assumed the Kargucagstani men would appreciate. Soft nationalistic music played from a hidden record player, through high quality speakers mounted on the frame of the tent. The climate control kept the temperature comfortably cool and inviting compared to the sunny outside. Raquel took off her suit jacket, a subtle message to the others that she was comfortable. A few of them followed suit, if one can stand the horrible pun, and took theirs off as well. The colors in the tent, purple and blue, where chosen specifically for the subtle message of relaxation, honesty, and power that they conveyed. Subtle details, it was hoped, that would sway the buyers.

When they did talk, it was very quickly, in a business like manner. The leader of the apparent group said, "We only have a few questions, after which we will inspect the other planes. First of all, a concern about the weakness of forward swept wings has been raised before."

Raquel, not missing a beat, replied quickly, "I assure you that there is a lot of hype over forward swept wing designs, and it simply isn't true. Their perceived weakness is due to the fact that air is drawn inward towards the fuselage, rather than away with a swept wing. This causes them to twist at the wing root, or base, more than a conventional backward swept wing, and so the wing has to be made stronger than a conventional wing. Because of this, our wings are much stronger than conventional layouts, it's just that they are put under a lot of pressure."

The leader nodded, wrote down something on his note pad, before continuing, "And the speed is rather low. It is governed at Mach 1.83. Why?"

"This is done for saftey reasons. Any faster and the airplane's wings may come off at speed. We are already planning an upgrade, which will become available to your nation in the future, that will allow the plane to reach up to Mach 2, but even still, these speeds are unnecessary. As an airforce man yourself, you know that 99% of the time and airplane travels slower than Mach 1, to conserve fuel, and to maintain an acceptable heat signature."

Again, the leader of the group nodded, and wrote down something. "Another thing we must mention is the cost. It is way above our required limit."

"We realize that the base cost of $150 million is rather high compared to the asked for $110million, however Groupe AIR is willing to negotiate. We will sell you the domestic production rights at a heavily discounted price, so that the airplane may be produced by your own industries, or by ours at zero profit. This would, at the minimum, put the price at just under your specification. Further, we will also give your nation a small gift of one billion dollars per year, to use as you see fit, if you would be willing to sign a contract giving Groupe AIR aircraft, especially Yanitarian ones, priority in your air force. We would also be willing to send ex-AARY officers to advise your men on how to best run the aircraft, and generally advise on air force doctrine, such as what aircraft you'll need as previous airframes age, at no cost to you."

Finally, the leader of the group, finishing his notes, stood up. "Alright, everything seems to be in order. I believe we shall inspect your display models outside now, if you'd be so kind as to tell us about them."

With a winning smile, Raquel nodded, and lead them out to look at the other aircraft.

At precisely 5:13 PM every television screen on the island flashed to black. All of the aircraft in the air were called back to land and noises from the crowd gradually died down as ground traffic slowed to a stop, all lights having been shifted to red. After a few moments the flag of the Free World Empire appeared on the screens, accompanied by a patriotic march pumped through the island-wide public broadcast system. The flag slowly faded to reveal the smiling face of Michael Allen Delphi, Kyrios of Kargucagstan.

“Hello to all of you out there attending Aero Kargucagstan twenty-nineteen!” he said enthusiastically in English (and scrolling subtitles in a dozen different languages), voice immaculately free of even the slightest hint of an accent. “Truly this has been six days of festivities to remember as the fruits of the brightest minds in the world converged on one dot of sand in the middle of the sea. If you’re at all like me,” he grinned again, perfectly white teeth almost glowing, “you’ve seen some amazing sights over the past week. Something to tell the grandkids about for sure!” As expected a low ripple of laughter passed through the milling crowds, faces upturned to meet the gaze of the Kargucagstani leader.

“But alas, all things must come to an end, and this competition is no exception, so in but a moment I will announce the winners and bid you all a fond farewell, but fear not! For just because the competition is over does not mean the events must conclude as well! No, I would not be at all surprised if companies and countries continued to debut new products at our show for days to come. And let me tell you, dear friend of the Empire, that you are welcome to stay on Hypatos Island as long as they do. For what kind of men would we be if not hospitable?” Another winning smile. Now the music dimmed again as the kyrios adopted a solemn air.

“But I digress. I am pleased to announce the results of this fine contest! Taking third place this year is the Groupe Air conglomerate of Yanitaria, presenting their amazing Am-22 Boucanier! In second place, representing Genoard of Aralonia is the F-s81 Cutlass! And finally, holding first place and winner of Aero Kargucagstan 2019 is the… FI-20.1M Lone Ranger of Hull Aircraft and No Endorse!”

A slightly dejected look crept onto his handsome face. “Now, I know that not every company could win our contracts, but it still pains me to have to turn away good products. But I want to stress that just because your aircraft may not have placed in the top three does not mean it’s not a good plane! It was probably just not what we were looking for right now. The acquisition and maintenance of another new fighter, one that I will neglect to mention for security reasons,” everyone knew he was talking about the Nukefighter, “has made it impossible for us to really afford everything we want or wish. But keep trying, keep building and keep looking forward!”

“Well folks,” the kyrios sighed, warmth returning to his voice, “it’s been an exciting few days, but as I mentioned earlier, it is time for it to draw to a close. So please, enjoy the island as long as you can and take a little bit of Kargucagstan with you in your hearts. Good day and good luck.” And with that, the screens went blank before gradually looping the message over again three times while the crowds went back to their activities. In small knots in hangers and conference rooms some designers popped open bottles of champagne in celebration, while others sighed and swore to persevere for next year- for there would be a next year.

OOC: Now the hard part, placing orders. I won’t do it here since I need to crunch some numbers, but No Endorse, TSS and Aralonia should contact me when they get a chance. Yani, I’m going to sleep on the Boucanier, but I might still acquire it. It’s a lot like the Cutlass, so perhaps Ara, you and myself could sit down and talk that out. I’ll also be going back through the lists and taking a look at other products shown, like trucks and missiles and stuff and seeing what will work with what and for how much, so any of you might see me popping up in your storefronts soon.

Like I said in the post, no need to stop posting if there’s more you want to write or hype. The aircraft are allowed to retake to the air as soon as the looped message is done, so have at it, and my thanks to everyone for turning out for this. I had a lot of fun, and I hope you all did as well.

María was a bit nervous. Her real feelings? How would she convey that? It was hard enough in English or Spanish or Tagalog, let alone in her barely-comprehensible Greek! Well, of course she couldn't really say much about that. But as for the plane, as a fighter, that she could answer, at least.

"Sir, I've flown a lot of planes. I'll admit I haven't seen combat, but the exercises we run over the jungles of Borneo get fairly intense. The F-21 is the best plane we've got. It's a beast of a plane and carries literally tonnes of weapons, it's got a massively powerful radar, and, as demonstrated, it can do maneuvers one wouldn't believe possible in a plane its size. If you're looking for an air superiority fighter - this is it," María said.

"I imagine you've seen the other planes. What makes you so confident that this one is better?" Ioannis asked. A probe, trying to get her to open up some more. There was a touch of honesty, then just a reeling off of statistics; this would be the big moment. Which way would she go?

"Well, the way I see it, an air superiority fighter, ultimately, has to be a plane with which you can take into enemy territory, challenge the other guy's air force, and win. For air superiority, ultimately, it's not maneuverability, or stealthiness, or sleekness - it's firepower. Air superiority is about charging in and blowing the other guy out of the sky, not about fancy footwork or sneaky raiding."

That was an interesting answer. Unsatisfying, but interesting. "I take it you fly a lot of heavy fighters?"

"Not as many as you'd think. To be honest, this isn't my favorite plane - it's too big, too bulky. Why do you think I chose to show off another side of it?"

"So what is your favorite plane?"

"Well, apart from my first - good old Flanker, good old thrust-vectoring fun - I'd have to say the F-7 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=578970). I hope you didn't miss it. It's got a beast of an engine on a small frame, and it's got a nearly ideal thrust-weight at MTOW. Cut back a bit on the warload and fuel, and when you turn on the engines, the plane practically leaps off the runway. It's an interceptor, pure and simple - no multi-role capabilities, just take off, climb, and shoot up unsuspecting fighters before they realize you've even started your pre-flight. Still, the Anteater is fun to fly. It's just... different."

"How so?"

"Well, for instance, if you want to try a post-stall maneuver in the F-21, it's just a matter of vectoring the engines the right way. It's easy, but it's almost a cheat. With the F-7, you don't have thrust vectoring, so the canards and the wing shape are what you have to rely on. It's more dangerous, but that's the point of being a test pilot - going beyond the limits of the possible. It's more fun when you don't have a crutch to use."

Clearly a test pilot, through and through. Though clearly not an old-school one; there was an intensity, a passion to her words that he never heard when his father talked about work. That wasn't necessarily a good thing, of course...

OOC - didn't notice that post, so here's the interview.
Also, congrats to the winners.

OOC: Cool, if you want to discuss the Boucanier on MSN or something, you know how to contact me. Sorry I missed your message, I was daydreaming and doing my financial aid application for Boston U.

OOC: It was a fun contest at the very least, congratulations to the winners, very impressive designs.