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91
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
Last post by DJC -
Hegseth and Meink made it very clear, in the week before the attack on Iran, that the two Wedgetail prototypes will be the end of the line. The USAF will make do with the ancient E-3 Sentry until the satellite option is operational - if ever.

You’d think that they could change their minds in the face of the RAAF Wedgetail’s performance in the Middle East, but that’s assuming rational decision-making.

The Wedgetail is Peace Eagle in the Türkiye Air Force and Wedgetail in RAF service.
92
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 3 2026 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by LP -
Quote from: kruddler – on
Acres with 1 shoulder is better than Chesser with 2.
It assumes Acres will be remaining on the ground if injured.

I feel it's a bigger problem for us as we do not have the midfield leg speed to cover the loss of a deep running type player, regardless of what our selection mix looks like, our A-Grade starting midfield is basically slowish relative to the opposition. So we need plenty of blokes out there who can be there from the 1st bounce to the final siren, otherwise the likes of Cripps, Hewett, Walsh, Cerra, etc., etc.. run themselves into the ground chasing people they can't catch.

As an aside, we were lucky last week when Williams returned, if he hadn't we might have fallen short instead of limping across the line!

On the ruck issues, I think Reidy and Pitto are too similar, Pitto is in good form so I'd go with HOK as the backup, he's more mobile but obviously not as physical as the other two, he can be angry though! ;D Maybe when we play the likes of Norp, we go Pitto and Reidy vs Xerri. Did we get it back to front in the first two rounds, or was our hand forced to play Reidy when we thought he wasn't ready because we knew HOK wasn't ready? To me Pitto and / or Reidy are the better match for Nankervis, and HOK is a better match for a more mobile type.
93
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 3 2026 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by DJC -
Quote from: kruddler – on
Acres with 1 shoulder is better than Chesser with 2.

Acres is a big unit who works the full length of the ground.  Chesser is a speedster who covers the ground quickly and can put pressure on opposition runners.  Both meet a need but, in this instance, I’d prefer strength to speed.

Acres looked a class above everyone else in the VFL - as he should!
94
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
Last post by LP -
I'm pretty sure the US recently reversed the decision, on the downlow of course, as there is no viable alternative so they will proceed with Wedgetail.

The futility of satellite in a high bandwidth Time on Target situation is exposed by the Starlink, Kiuper, Iris and others that need up to 100000+ devices in orbit to obtain moderate coverage and bandwidth that is only 1/10th of what Wedgetail can deliver. There is also bit of an AI fudge used to make the satellite data look better than it really is, but you can't do that in an active war zone because it's based on predictive AI algorithms that are about 50% hallucination. You can't be half right in a war zone.

Wedgetail can linger for up to 10 hrs continuously while covering almost 3x the area of the existing AWACS or similar, and do that from about 5x further away all the time acting as a high bandwidth hub for the F35s and also use the F35s remote sensors. To deliver similar coverage from the aging AWAC fleet they have to put 3x the aircraft in the same theatre, and even then can only achieve a fraction of the Wedgetail bandwidth. This is because the Wedgetail uses synthetic aperture MESA radar instead of mechanically scanned radar like the older AWAC and Poseidon systems. Wedgetail can scan, analyse and predict targets in real-time at the kilohertz rate, thousands of times per second, in the full 360° theatre, while the AWAC or P8 Poseidon typically scan a target just once every few seconds. I have some nostalgia for the older systems, but there is no comparison. Allies ridiculed the Jindalee OTHR, claiming the synthetic aperture radar had no useful application, then Australia miniaturised the technology and put it in a plane to wipe the floor with the opposition, but we aren't cocky about it, our lot just get on with the job!

Of course, we are building the SKA in WA, which is in effect a synthetic aperture telescope. Oddly all this stuff uses the same basic technologies.
97
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 3 2026 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by DJC -
Quote from: LP – on
Chesser for a newbie is pretty clean, we have quite a few long terms that could learn a thing or two, I'd have to watch the disposals closely before deciding what is good or bad, but I have to say I haven't noticed anything too negative, no worse than some of our front line.

A goal assist and five score involvements from a winger is a pretty good return, particularly when we only managed 10.15

However, I would bring Acres in for Chesser.
98
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 3 2026 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by Thryleon -
Quote from: Gointocarlton – on
Quote from: LP – on
Chesser for a newbie is pretty clean, we have quite a few long terms that could learn a thing or two, I'd have to watch the disposals closely before deciding what is good or bad, but I have to say I haven't noticed anything too negative, no worse than some of our front line.
Thurs night wasnt Chessers best work.
The problem is, maybe it was....

:D

In all seriousness, we need Cotters and Acres back to help with the outside run, hardness, and ball magentability.
99
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 3 2026 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by Adelaideblue -
Quote from: Lods – on
Quote from: tonyo – on
We badly need some more liveliness in the F50.  We reverted to the bad old 'bomb it in' ways in the second half last week.

Derksen, Evans, Byrne in

Young, Fogarty, Elijah get a break

I'd actually like to see Derksen given a run in the forward line.
He played at both ends for GWS in the VFL and was their leading goalkicker in 2023.

Yes, so far we have looked undermanned up forward without Charlie.  Imagine Derksen has been largely recruited to do a job down back so this may be his starting spot in the firsts. Will look forward to seeing how he also goes if swung forward. Good to have a guy with size on our list with that versatility.
100
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 3 2026 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Melbourne
Last post by Gointocarlton -
Quote from: LP – on
Chesser for a newbie is pretty clean, we have quite a few long terms that could learn a thing or two, I'd have to watch the disposals closely before deciding what is good or bad, but I have to say I haven't noticed anything too negative, no worse than some of our front line.
Thurs night wasnt Chessers best work.