Great news if is not just more wishful thinking!
The Tucanos are way overdue their initial promised delivery date, and are awaited most anxiously by the DR air force and pilots who were trained for them.
It will be a great addition to the updating of the DR air patrol and intercept capabilities.

I hope that they ask for ID before shooting down

All you have to know about the use of these planes can be figured out by simple observation. Watch how we drive and look at the condition of our Mercedes Benz buses. Got the picture?

Brugal will be served on board?

Can you guys offer anything else except cheap criticism and cynic remarks, or those turn you on?

All joking aside... I will never get on a small plane in DR. I would be too scared to be shot down if the plane is confused for a drug plane.

xwill7

I hope the "pilot's Brugal" will be put away, as you commented, and you never have to experience the business end of an aircraft cannon spitting fireballs at you, while tailing your rear end.

12 planes (Barahona, San Isidro/PUJ/POP get 2 each)??. The last two units will be used as funcionario transport or spare parts?

Good to have these planes "quickly", but I doubt they will arrive before year's end. If not paid for in full Embraer, will not release the planes. LF will not have the final money when the time arrives.

We should also get a some Russian make aircraft to cut on the US bureacracy and Technology,,,diversified your porfolio FAD.....what about the NAVY are they getting misile guided Frigates?...they are great also to hunt unwanted aircraft

telemeco, great suggestion on new aquisitions, but with what money? Do you think for one second LF and his Court Jesters, will cough-up any funds that they could steal for themselves? Look at the condition of the two small Fast Chase Vessels (38 footers) the US donated to the DR for Drug Enforcement less than 3 years ago. These boats each had new boat trailers when delivered. Their trailer tires were switched (stolen) the first week they were in the country.... go figure? Must have been some (Tigre/Tiguere) that took them...

Hey G,

Should'nt have those planes BEEN in the DR some months ago????? As I recall, we were commenting on this subject same time last year and they were due any day....

Those planes have been rigged by the Americans so that they will malfunction upon the request of the Southern Command. They are going to let us have the toys but they will be controlled by Florida!

No Ticket , No washee or cuarto en mano culo en tierra

What???

"Written by: telemeco, 31 Jul 2009 11:36 AM
We should also get a some Russian make aircraft to cut on the US bureacracy and Technology"

uhhmmmmm......Tucanos are Brazilian

"Written by: allumeuseGeneroso, 31 Jul 2009 1:41 PM
Those planes have been rigged by the Americans so that they will malfunction upon request of the Southern Command"

I am begining to wonder if people actually believe some of the crap they write here.

Anthony

So Dominican on your part, if you have taken the time to read the article,, youare more likely undestand my comment, but no change in hell that is happening.
The “bureaucracy” prevented it, probably in reference to the required review because the Brazilian made Super Tucano uses U.S. avionics technology

I say get Russian Jet,,,to fight the American B/S and cut down on the need of having they avionic on our Brazilian Tucano. i am should the Russian would be more than happy to assist us.

Juango,
Money is there,,,leadership is not,,ladrone por montones.

Russian Jets? LOL..We call them targets.

If your going to spend money at least spend it on something that works!

I take it you no nothing about aircraft, how old are you 15,,or just being watching too many Top Gun movies

AnthonyC, What do you think happened to the Iranian air force during the Iraq-Iran war of the early 1980's? Please don't repeat the "we didn't have the replacement parts to fix the planes." Iranian reported mysterious malfunctioning of their American planes!

Just because something is outside your perception limited imagination it must, therefore, be morally judged. The minute you judge outside your limited neuron network, you immediately come across as an infant!

The U.S. never delivers a 100% "functioning" military vehicle to their customers designated as "friendlies." Only the true partners (Canada, U.K., Israel) get the full "as advertised" military vehicles with all the capabilities. Just because you paid for it, it does not mean you are going to get the full 100 % capabilities as advertised!

texasshoe
Correctamente.
Financing has been contracted, and all the money is in place, but some electronic and navigational gear is US made, and the US has to release the avionics of the airplane to the the end suer, and they have been dragging their b.tts.

I am glad birds are finally coming home to roost.

This is good thing for DR DEA [don't know acronym in Spanish-please forgive my overt ignorance!].

Gov. has been clamoring for planes as obvious need in war against drugs, so thiersome arrival should do away with excuses. We should, nevertheless, allow for learning curve, so let's give them 6-8 months to show effectiveness.

It is indeed regrettable that we can not always control our cynicism [myself included!], so let's endeavor to be more measured on issues that are positive, such as this one.

With all sports and private planes flocking to DR on government's open invitation, however, I remain a little concerned about possibility of shooting down innocent people.

allumeuseGeneroso,

It is a well know FACT that when the US technicians were told to leave Iran after the Ayatolla took over they sabotaged the Avionics of the F-14's. It wasn't some magic switch thrown in the Pentagon but just some well placed magnets by some American engineers from Grumman.


telemeco,

Name me one conflict in which Soviet/Russian planes performed well against it's American counterparts. Go ahead. I dare you to try and find an example.

I will do you a favor and save you some time......The ANSWER IS NEVER!!!!!

AnthonyC,

You wrote: "telemeco,

Name me one conflict in which Soviet/Russian planes performed well against it's American counterparts. Go ahead. I dare you to try and find an example.

I will do you a favor and save you some time......The ANSWER IS NEVER!!!!!"

This would only be true if you were to exclude the Viet Nam experience, where the more agile MIG's were very effective in bringing down some heavier and less maneuverable Phantoms.

All told, US lost >500 Phantoms to missiles and MIG encounters.

BTW, MIG 29 is a very worthy adversary.

Vietnam ended with a 3-1 air-to-air kill ratio in the US favor even with the ridiculous rules of engagement imposed on them by McNamara. Once some of the restrictions were eased(Not completly) it rose to 7-to-1.

The Mig-29 has a perfect record against US equipment.........0 for 32. Hardly a worthy adversary. The real sad part is that a large percentage of the pilots of those Migs never knew what hit them.

anthonyC,

A respectful rebuttal to your comments above:

1) Phantoms shot down because they were less agile than MIG's and missiles didn't work correctly. If you don't believe this then you must have missed all documentaries on History Channel.

2) How many Russian pilots on down MIG 29's? Zero! All downed planes piloted by inadequate 3rd world air force pilots, unless you could come up with authoritative source example proving the contrary.

AnthonyC,

Supporting information for my comments above [source: www.economicexpert.com/a/F:4:Phantom.htm]:

"In 1965 the first USAF Phantom IIs were sent to Vietnam. Early versions lacked any gun armament. Coupled with the unreliability of the air-to-air missiles ( AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder) of the time, this major drawback resulted in the aircraft loss after they ran out of missiles. During the course of the Vietnam War, its contemporaries, the MiG-19 and MiG-21, inflicted heavy losses on the F-4s when the American aircraft were ambushed after returning from bombing assignments. This prompted the USAF to introduce an M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon in the nose of the aircraft, below the radome (although no Navy or Marine Phantoms ever had an integral gun). This later version was the mainstay of the USAF Phantom II forces. "

Let's 4get the MIg's for the moment. The point in case is a Brazilian built jet/plane that's fitted with USA technology that the Russians want to shoot down. Simple. What's the DR's problem with this - well, someone has already pointed out that these were due last year (I too remember reading the article, my memory tells me that the government 'has' purchased 8 - I can look up the history if anyone insists!), so, the money has been paid (?), where are the aircraft in question (?) they're built and ready for delivery - just clearing customs and require governmental approval (= still awaiting the brown envelope), the money has not yet been paid (?) - where are the aircraft in question (?) erm, que se yo! It's just possible that this is a case of castles in the air, clouds in the sky, erm, money 'lost' - I'm a foreigner in the DR - what do I know? oh, sorry, final question is, what happened to the money that was 'paid' to the supplier of the aircraft that the government 'has' purchased.

glomarexplorer,

The History Channel? You realize that is ENTERTAINMENT not a vetted documentary.

How do you know it wasn't Russian pilots? In fact even the Russians have admitted they were piloting the planes in Vietnam as they had done in Korea. They died as well.

Yes there was an issue with the gun or lack of one. The main issue was rules of engagement requiring a visual ID before attacking which led for the need of a gun in close quarters. Remove all of the silly rules and it would have been a Turkey shoot.

Generoso..I have often wondered about the cheap criticism and the cynical remarks that are made on this site .I think that the fall into two groups ..Firstly those writers who live here and get frustrated at the daily evidence of mal administration sometimes can only see the bad side of everything here and secondly there are those Dominicans who mainly live in the USA and somehow want to justify their reason for leaving and also want to use the show their like or dislike of the USA.depending on how they feel about living there.
I do not know anything about the various writers here but many speak on issues on which they have little knowledge

Ricardolito
Some posters are influenced by cynical comments made previously by other disgruntled critics and fault finders, and tend to imitate them like monkeys, thinking that they will gain entrance to the fraternity of critics in DT.
If you noticed there are those that jump to be the first to make a comment, do so always with cynical remarks that are their particular signature and M.O. (modus operandi).
My view is that the DR is paradise, but even in paradise not everything works 100% or even 50%, but we have to learn to live with the "mosquitos" I guess, and look at the glass half full, not half empty. Every morning we should thank the universe that we live here.

All comments are just opinions or general commentary. A few are funny, others critical. Whichever the case may be, why can't folks just read and comment? If you do not share the same feelings or thoughts, then just ignor what you have read. I am surprised that no one has commented on the accuracy of the article, which reads as though 12 planes were purchased, when in reality only 8 units were bought. Please remember, ones PARADISE just may be another persons HELL ! Just distinct views of the same landscape.

Juango
Good observation about the real quantity of planes.
In the beginning the DR air force wanted to purchase 10 planes. Then for some reason unknown to most, the number was reduced to 8. This created rumors about graft and paybacks.
The planes were financed by Brasil, and it is really very difficult to hide illegal kickbacks in such a public purchase such as this, although I am not saying that it can't be done, more so with the long inherited DR custom of the 10% payback.

Juango ,,,yes everyone is entitled to comment but everyone is asked to be relevant and there are some real repeat offenders here .,,I love this country but sometimes I feel disgusted at what I see and what I read here ..and in every case it is when the basic rules of proper behaviour and decent living give way to hatred and theft and disregard for ones fellow man..And in paradise here most people just look the other way !!

Antony C Why do you think countries like Nigeria buy their war planes from different sources (China, Russia, France and U.S.)? Everyone in the third world knows that electronics can be easily sabotage via satellite. And you know who has satellites all over the world. Also you need magnets of a few TESLA to disrupt semiconductors band gap and permanent magnets were bulky in the 1970's! IF you are thinking of the Lorenz force that will be mitigated by the narrowness of the conductive lines. So try again, may be Montecarlo will into you if you keep shooting!

Your explanation of the missing technician and/or sabotage in the late 1970's Iran/Iraq war does not explain the malfunctioning of the Iranian air force. The iranians were not that stupid! Try again!

anthonyC,

I don't fully understand why, but you seem to have a "jaundiced eye" relative to this story and other similar. Perhaps that's a good thing, because of the dialogue it inevitably elicits.

You have some revisionist and distortive commentary, and you are entitled to the truth as you believe it. I am not entering into any arguments with you on these issues. I simply wanted to state facts as they have been chronicled by media nad history books, possibly infinitely more authoritative sources than you or I will ever be.

I am biased [US Naval Academy class of 1979 appointee-shattered vision, depth perception tests at time!], and fully believe US makes best fighters in world. Period. Given opportunity, even Russians would buy them. I fully believe this. I worked in that industry for seven years. I worked on numerous weapons and avionics systems for most fighters of the late 70's & '80's. I played major part on the Maverick missile launcher; visionics package; etc.

AnthonyC,

Continued:

Other projects, because of gov. clearance & security, I am not at liberty to discuss, but I could go on and on mentioning other projects of note I participated on. However, that's not of importance here.

My point is that the Russians have made some very good airplanes and worthy adversaries. That's all; if you don't bleieve that, then why do you think we almost bankcorrupted the contry trying to best them? Don't you think it was possibly something more than overzealous capitlism? Perhaps it was fear that the Russians indeed had good planes. Think about it.

Getting back on subject, let's get those Tucanos and start enforcing the laws and eradicating drug trafficking.

We will all be better off when this has effectively taken place.

I also believe we should probably acquire an additional 8 planes for continued coverage and maintanace allowance. Furthermore, it should save money in long run, as cost would be way higher next few years.

Here is a list WW2 the Yak, Korean War. Vietnam Arghanistan,

Russian planes are more rigid than it US counterpart, just because the US is good on adverticing it superiority to others country, propaganda to have people like you believe it.

Russian jet are good machine and with the proper train pilot are a unstopable. now if you think we should pay 6 time the price for something the US build when you can the same quality from the Russian.
The luffwaffe train they pilot on mig 29,,,not F16, F14 ,F18 or F15.....and one can afford the new F22 .

telemeco,

I ask you the same question. if that russian planes are so good name me one conflict in which the performed even almost as good as their American competitors. Go ahead. Try!

AnthonyC,

Viet Nam dogfight kill ratio was 2.5:1-US/Viet Cong. That's 40% as good [Viet Nam Vs US] and, frankly, much better than anyone would have expected-even you! BTW, this is strictly "real dogfight" information, not downnings by missiles. Remember that total downed Phantoms was>500! There are many air forces in Western Europe which don't have that many [500] planes.

Please see attached link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fnyah7Y91Q&NR=1

All of relevant dogfights [too numerous to mention] are here as well.

YOU CANT READ.......read the list,,,WW2 Yak fighter,(Mig 3) Vietnam,,Glomarexplorer is providing with a good list,, Korean War Mig 19 have a high kill ratio at the beggining of the war,,it was flown by Russian both in Vietnam and in Korea..

Stop listening to the Top Gun propaganda,,cause i served the American military, my experience . there are not the superior force you are thinking,

war planes to fight druglords it seems like a good idea, but why do I get the feeling the united states will stick there noses on this issue. and will try to disrupt the plan.