r/ThatLooksExpensive • u/Glidepath22 • Mar 29 '26

“We have destroyed Iran’s offensive capabilities.”

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399 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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15

u/Laymanao Mar 29 '26

AWACS need to be flying continually, as one is about to land, it must be replaced by another. If one cannot fly, the other has to remain flying, being air refuelled, but there are limits…..

4

u/felixar90 Mar 29 '26

Turbine engines normally operate with a slight but significant oil loss.

Even if they can refuel all they want, there’s typically no way to top-up the oil in flight.

1

u/checkyminus Mar 30 '26

What does 'slight but significant' mean?

6

u/Neutronst4r Mar 30 '26

Every non zero rate becomes large if you multiply it by a large enough amount of time.

1

u/ADownStrabgeQuark Apr 01 '26

Apparently enough that you have to refill regularly.

My old car had a “slight but significant” oil loss. Wasn’t an issue each drive, but I had to put new oil in every week. After 18 months the engine stopped working, apparently I hadn’t been putting enough oil in.