F-35 and F-22. Photo from Military Photos And Photoshops
Ryan faith, VICE News: Saving Money on the F-22 Fighter Jet May Cost America a Hell of a Lot
The United States Air Force is not in great shape. For starters, officials estimate it has 500 fewer pilots than it should ideally have. Plus, many of the planes those pilots would be flying aren't in great shape. The newest jet, the F-35, is continually hammered for schedule, cost, and technological issues. The slightly older F-22 is considered the best fighter jet in the world, but it was purchased in relatively small numbers. And the aging F-16 and F-15 counterparts will need a lot of expensive upgrades to remain relevant.
What the Air Force lacks in performance, it won't be making up for in quantity. Today it has only enough money to keep 55 combat-coded fighter squadrons operational (as opposed to the 134 squadrons they had back in 1991). Only half of those 55 are considered ready to go toe-to-toe with a peer opponent like Russia or China. According to a recent report from the RAND Corporation, the US hasn't had the capability to achieve 24/7 air dominance over China in a potential Taiwan Straits conflict since 2010 — something the US has been able to do in every conflict it has fought in the last quarter century.
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Update: F-35 vs. Eurofighter Typhoon: Which Fighter Will Dominate? (Dave Majumdar, National Interest)
WNU Editor: I am old enough to remember that the F-22 program was terminated because it was too expensive to continue .... even though it was the best fighter in the world by far. And its place was to be the promised F-35 .... a promised but equally good fighter jet (but cheaper). Years later .... the costs have ballooned, numerous delays, and an acknowledgement that the F-35 will not even come close to what the F-22 is capable of. And what is worse .... the financial demands of the F-35 is bleeding everyone else. But what irks me is that if the same criteria that was used to cancel the F-22 program was applied to the F-35 program .... the F-35 program would have been cancelled years ago.
4 comments:
I guess military infrastructure both human and material take a back seat to political payola just as do domestic, both human and material infrastructure. Given the drone explosion how will they attract young men and women to become actual pilots, a soon to be outdated job.
I have always my doubts about drones totally replacing manned aircraft. I reason that their vulnerabilities will become more apparent against advanced actor electronic counter measures. Gen 4+ aircraft may also have similar vulnerabilities.
The original Star Trek had an episode whereby two worlds had been at war for generations and both were fed up with the blood, guts and destruction of property. They devised another way to wage war whereby if one managed to get by the others' defenses no damage or killing was done, it was all computer simulated, but the people in the hit zone had to report to a termination centre.
The moral of that story was that when people have to actually face the blood, guts and destruction they have no motivation to stop waging war. Such a war could then go on forever.
In North America we have yet to experience the real devastation of war, but it will eventually hit home if things keep going on the way they are.
The main difference is the F-22 succeeded. As such, they could cancel it. It would be devastating to the self confidence of many good and decent people should he F-35 fail. As such, they cannot bring themselves to admit failure. To admit such might even lead to prosecutions. My suggestion would be to cancel the program and grant the people involved in the program a decent and dignified retirement program along with a comprehensive counseling program paid for by the taxpayers.
This would certainly be a better option than continuing with a failed program and it allows the people involved a degree of dignity. In any event, the F-35 is eventually going to have to be canceled anyway the publicity against it is simply to much for it to be allowed to continue.
While at this point I'm assuming the program is at least half as bad as the critics say which would be reason enough to cancel it, the critics do remind me of a line from an old Shakesphere play "thou doest protest much." The media blitz against this thing has been unprecedented.
With that said at least three things should be done forthwith. 1.)Cancel the F-35 allowing the dignity and respect to the people involved that they deserve for their patriotic services to America. 2.)Bring back the F-22 program as soon as feasible. Surely the specs along with the people who know how to manufacture it are still able to assist. 3.)Perhaps most important of all Russia and China are the world's most powerful and capable military forces on the planet and this is going to be the case for the foreseeable future. Furthermore this gap is only likely to get wider in the coming years assuming America even survives. Military and civilian leaders need to understand this and act accordingly.
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