The F/A-22 Raptor Must Fly

The American Spectator ^ | July 8, 2004 | Michael Fumento

[corkoman]

The A-10 has been out of production for almost 20 years

DOH!!!

Dagnabit!!! Well then dust off those design history files and get to it - make another 200 of those puppies and keep them greased up just in case.

[Yo-Yo]

Civilians, yes, civilians are now flying higher and faster than the F-22. The F-22 can't even go into Space...but civilians can.

Yeah, yeah, and when the Lear Jet was first introduced in 1963 it could climb faster than an F-100 SuperSabre. Funny, though, that Rutan SpaceShipOne doesn't even have a radar, let alone any weapons.

[Flightdeck]

"For that same money you could have 1,000 sub-orbital Burt Rutan-style fighters, a dozen B-2 stealth bombers, several F-117 stealth fighters, and still have enough money left over to purchase every Su-27 available on the market."

Since the B-2 cost $2.2 billion EACH, a dozen of them would already put you over budget. They wouldn't have cost that much if Lockheed had the contract, but that's another story. But as to your main point, the projected orders for the JSF are in the hundreds, and the FA/18 superhornets are gonna be around for a while. And militarily, a "Burt Rutan style fighter" is worthless. Why would we launch a teeny little thing up really high only for it to fall back down 15 minutes later only a hundred miles away?

[Shryke]

For that same money you could have 1,000 sub-orbital Burt Rutan-style fighters

No. Why do you say things like this?

[Southack]

"Why would we launch a teeny little thing up really high only for it to fall back down 15 minutes later only a hundred miles away?"

Why do we ever want our fighters to go faster and fly higher?

[Yo-Yo]

Dagnabit!!! Well then dust off those design history files and get to it - make another 200 of those puppies and keep them greased up just in case.

Not to worry, the Air Force is putting the A-10 through an upgrade program to extend the Warthog's life to at least 2028.

Not bad for an aircraft that first flew in 1972!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Looking at what the Marines have done with the Harrier, I'm sure they'd love to get their mitts on the A-10. That would truly be a match made in Heaven. Or Hell...depending on whose flag you're flying.

[Southack]

"Why do you say things like this?"

To shock your mind out of the rut of fighter the last war so that you'll be less surprised by what the near-term future is about to change.

[Southack]

"Why do you say things like this?"

To shock your mind out of the rut of fighting the last war so that you'll be less surprised by what the near-term future is about to change.

[Southack]

"But as to your main point, the projected orders for the JSF are in the hundreds"

Try not to spill your coffee if you hear that the JSF gets cancelled entirely in the next year.

[hershey]

President Kerry (my skin is crawling)believes the only reason people hate the US is that we act in our own interest -- not theirs. He'll put a stop to that, naturally. So there will be no dental coverage, sorry, because we'll be taking care of everybody else in the hemisphere. And Hill's already told us she's taking back those nasty Bush tax cuts, plus a whole lot more she won't detail at this time...for the 'common good'. Can we all spell communist? Besides, we have no business questioning our betters, the billionaire gigilo and his multimillionaire sidekick, when they start robbing us blind. We should just sit down and shut up.

[saminfl]

A-10 are great, but cant we upgrade or replaced them with something that allows better target discrimination.

A-10s are getting pods now.

[hershey]

The rest of the money in the US budget is going to places like Arafat's Swiss bank accounts.

[tbpiper]

Amen.

[Fudd]

The FA-22 is probably the last manned fighter that we will build. The capabilities of the plane are greater than a human body can survive and with the successes in remote control such as in the Global Hawk and Predator the writing is on the wall.

Not quite. I would predict that unmanned drones will be used in conjunction with manned planes. While unmanned a/c can outmaneuver manned a/c, the most lethal weapon system is still the brain in the cockpit.

Recall the recent DARPA-sponsored race from LA to Las Vegas. Robot cars were given a route to follow, and had to make all of the route-planning and obstacle avoidance decisions without user input. If I remember correctly, about 30 teams raced. 2-3 robots made it one mile, and only one made it six miles. Technology's just not there. Yet.

[Logic n' Reason]

"I've already got my F22."

Me too; I got the convertible with the "hide-a-way" top! Really cool; but the fuel economy isn't quite up to my expectations!

[Snuffington]

The Post claimed the plane's "role is now more ambiguous because no country is developing an aircraft with anything near its capabilities."

That quote exposes the stupidity of the U. S. Press on defense matters in a nutshell.

[USMCBOMBGUY]

Great to hear, I can tell you first hand the horror of having one come at you with that cannon blazing----the ripping thunder that it makes. Thankfully the wing man was more alert then the lead, otherwise I might not be typing this.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I'll sacrifice fuel for speed, agility, and stealth everytime. I had mine painted Cub Yellow so I can find it.

[Fudd]

Link to CNN

DARPA Grand Challenge 2004. 100+ teams applied. 15 made it to starting line. Carnegie-Mellon's 'bot went to mile 7.4. None made it 150 miles.