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F-22 Raptors' systems crash mid-flight over Pacific
Lockheed's shiny new F-22 Raptor stealth fighters may have owned a few war games, but crossing the International Date Line left them as helpless as a carrot in a rabbit trap, with multiple system crashes causing an emergency detour en route from Hawaii to Okinawa, Japan. Communication, fuel subsystems, and navigation systems were rendered useless and repeated "reboots" were of no help. Luckily, the fleet had clear skies and refueling tankers to guide them back to Hawaii. If they had separated from the tankers, "they would have turned around and probably could have found the Hawaiian Islands. But if the weather had been bad on approach, there could have been real trouble," states Retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd. The voyage suffered a two-day delay on account of the system failures -- "a computer glitch in the millions of lines of code, somebody made an error in a couple lines of the code and everything goes." What should have been a showy parade of $125+ million super fighters quickly turned to disaster for Lockheed who would've had a lot of explaining to do, had this happened during combat.[Via Slashdot]
The jets & sets of After Burner: Black Falcon
Did you know that the upcoming After Burner: Black Falcon uses real world, licensed aircraft? Neither did I, until Gamespot talked to producer Ryan Kauffman. He reveals the crafts that are used in the game, such as the F-14X Tomcat, the F-15E Strike Eagle, and the F/A-18E Super Hornet. Those that know their planes may appreciate the inclusion of more modern craft, such as the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II.While the vehicles of After Burner may stick true to the real world, it appears that the locations are based in fantasy. The term "reality plus one" reflects upon the level designs, which vary from a lush jungle environment, to a snowy tundra. My favorite named level? Mountainistan. Just has a nice ring to it.We'll keep our eyes open for more info on Sega's upcoming game. After Burner hits stores March 20th.
