I'm not sure what you think the problem is. The Turks have operated a specialised reconnaissance version of the Phantom for years, and it probably will for years to come. Its a larger airframe, its got dedicated built in sensors, its slightly faster, it may be a more stable platform. Why do you think they should convert F-16's to do the job when they have an aircraft that does the job fine ? "Eight RF-4Es were delivered to Turkey. The were all new-build aircraft. Turkish RF-4Es were first delivered in November of 1978, equipping No. 113 Squadron at Eskisehir." Not all that old, actually. http://www.f-4.nl/f4_16.html There is no dedicated reconnaissance version of the F-16 by the way, although some are sometimes fitted with external camera pods.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head there.

I thought the big thing about this vehicle was that it could go up and down more cheaply than traditional means. If its going to be left up there for a year, doesn't that defeat the object ? Perhaps its not operational yet, and this was just to prove that the production versions can operate for a long time.

Police state.

Depends on the usage.....for office based users looking for something to last a 3 hour meeting before going back to their desks it could be fine.

The EU is not under threat. The Economic Union that spawned the Euro, perhaps. The two are not the same.

Probably, the consequences are yet to be understood

I've just moved to the virgin 50mbit. No throttling that i can see, when downloading from newsgroups at least. Very nice and i got a Wireless N router and 2 months free into the bargin. Yes i know everyone gets that currently, i wasn't making out i got something special. Oh and i got the phone line moved to them as well, which was seamless.

May i be not the first to say what a steaming pile of **** this is.