tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29099853.post5909619905537162881..comments2023-10-26T22:53:59.503+08:00Comments on The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato: AIM-120 problems blamed on humidityJ. Michael Cole 寇謐將http://www.blogger.com/profile/12125612369359079447noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29099853.post-54649851290408869082012-03-20T11:38:59.019+08:002012-03-20T11:38:59.019+08:00Then it is a bit strange, as, assuming a correlati...Then it is a bit strange, as, assuming a correlation between age and use, you'd expect the cracking to occur on the older stuff first.<br /><br />Oh and ... clouds the world over - I <i>thought</i> I remembered seeing them in Europe.Mike Faganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08745281285031316740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29099853.post-83834899074776772732012-03-20T10:22:41.590+08:002012-03-20T10:22:41.590+08:00Oh don't get me wrong, I don't think this ...Oh don't get me wrong, I don't think this is malicious either (though some unnamed "analysts" cited by UDN claim this is a way for the US to "control" the Taiwanese military). It's probably poor built, mixed with poor maintenance and storage. But the fact that this is occurring only with the AIM-120s — which Taiwan paid a lot of money for — calls for a solution (not to mention their utility in air-to-air combat). I' ve not heard of this problem plaguing the AIM-7s and -9s.J. Michael Cole 寇謐將https://www.blogger.com/profile/12125612369359079447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29099853.post-37223196360512248322012-03-20T03:55:19.949+08:002012-03-20T03:55:19.949+08:00You know... reluctant to attribute to malice what ...You know... reluctant to attribute to malice what might be better explained by error. Or poor maintenance. Or poor build quality. Or some combination thereof.<br /><br />Does the cracking problem occur on the older Sparrows too?Mike Faganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08745281285031316740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29099853.post-52955930724031523182012-03-20T02:09:15.952+08:002012-03-20T02:09:15.952+08:00@Mike: The main problem here is prevailing ambient...@Mike: The main problem here is prevailing ambient humidity, not flying through clouds (there is cloud cover the world over). Under this logic, exposure to Gs, rather than humidity, would be the main problem.<br /><br />Your point could apply to the MICA on the Mirage-2000s, but bear in mind that the TC-II is on the IDFs, of which there are 130 — that's only 16 aircraft less than the F-16A/Bs.J. Michael Cole 寇謐將https://www.blogger.com/profile/12125612369359079447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29099853.post-77290663041884499982012-03-20T01:52:30.819+08:002012-03-20T01:52:30.819+08:00"...despite being exposed to the same climati...<i>"...despite being exposed to the same climatic conditions, storage and rotation cycles."</i><br /><br />But is that right? The airforce has more F-16s than Mirages. The viper is the mainstay and so presumably it gets flown more frequently than the other aircraft. If that's true, then surely it would be plausible to suppose that the AIM120s it carries get exposed to more humidity (e.g. from flying through cloud cover) than the French missiles carried on the Mirages.Mike Faganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08745281285031316740noreply@blogger.com