Three F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (rear to front) — AF-2, AF-3 and AF-4 — can be seen flying over Edwards Air Force Base in this Dec. 10, 2011, in this handout photo provided by Lockheed Martin. (photo by REUTERS/Lockheed Martin/Darin Russell)
David Axe, Daily Beast: The U.S. Air Force May Have Just Built Its Last Fighter Jet
The operator of the world’s biggest and most sophisticated fleet of warplanes isn’t planning on developing a major new dogfighter. How come?
The U.S. Air Force has just released its latest official strategy for controlling the sky for the next 15 years. And for the first time in generations, the “air-superiority” plan doesn’t necessarily include a new fighter jet.
That’s right—the world’s leading air force, the operator of the world’s biggest and most sophisticated fleet of fighter planes, isn’t currently planning on developing a major new fighter. The Air Force may be getting the F-35—its current fighter. But it probably won’t get an F-36 any time soon.
Read more ....
Update: Growing Concerns That The U.S. Air Force May Be Obsolete By 2030 (June 5, 2016).
WNU Editor: No new jet fighter in the works .... that says a lot.
1 comment:
Given the disturbing and often maddening tendency of US officials to overestimate America's capabilities, underestimate the capabilities of adversaries and potential adversaries, underestimate and understate threats to US national security, overestimate and overstate our ability to counter these threats, and overestimate America's ability to influence world events, the assessment of 2030 is probably overly sanguine. In actuality, the US air force may be obsolete by 2020. In fact, it may already be obsolete.
There are a few reason for this tendency to overestimate America's position while underestimating the positions of adversaries and potential adversaries. Essentially the top brass in the military serves at the pleasure of the civilian leadership and the civilian leadership does not want truthful reports. To give such reports risks the loss of careers, possibly the loss of pensions, and opening themselves up to be smeared by the media.
If you're in the military and are charged with issuing a report to your superiors that will ultimately end up in the hands of civilian leaders and you value your career, you will face tremendous pressure both formal and informal to whitewash the threats and potential threats. To issue such a report as stating the air force would obsolete by 2030, the people doing so took some risks. Given prior history, it seems reasonable to conclude this report is far to sanguine.
Unless one constantly innovates, everything they do will be obsolete in short order. Assuming the United States does nothing it seems ridiculous to think it is going to take Russia, China, and others 14 years to catch up as no piece of equipment or process that is not constantly upgraded in the real world has a useful life of 14 years. As stated previously, the YSAF may already be obsolete.
If there are going to be no new fighter jets, it would seem the civilian leadership has chosen to ignore reality yet again. Unfortunately this is hardly new for them.
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