Posted on 03/16/2009 10:15:25 PM PDT by utahson
At some point even the Democrats will (again) figure out that defense provides a LOT of well paying jobs, both professional and factory type.
We don’t need as much money to fight a “war on man made causes” as we did for a “war on terror”. If you change the name you can cut the budget.
I agree with you and Col. John Boyd (ret. deceased) who noted not just the incredible waste, but that our planes did not perform up to snuff v. the Soviets. We did not really have air superiority, at least not in a fight.
You'll get conservatives going nuts over welfare, but the military-industrial complex is a mix of corporate welfare and wealth building for retired Generals and Admirals.
We should demand the same standards across the board. The government almost starved our Army during the Revolutionary War. Soldiers I know in Iraq and Afghanistan can't get basic equipment and buy it out of their personal funds. They struggle to get reimbursed.
Yet, we have billions to spend on new and exciting systems. Let's stick to the basics and keep our guys equipped. I'd like to see us allow innovation at the level the Israeli's do for their fighting personnel.
Why won’t he cut the Osprey completely as well?”
Wrong. The F-22 is the next (5th Generation) fighter and is the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. They are expensive, but you need much fewer of them to dominate the skies than you do F-15s or F-16s. Would you'd rather we stop our technological advance and let the Russians and Chinese catch up with us? They would be more than happy to oblige.
The dems never met a military spending bill that they didn’t want to cut, but ohh how they screamed about not having enough body armor for the troops.
I am not joking. It is a waste of valuable funding that should go elsewhere to more promising programs or current needs.
I don’t know a single AF pilot who believes men will be in planes during the next fight. UAV are the future platform.
Remember the military is a government bureaucracy as well.
Our nation’s defense doesn’t need a military-industrial complex feeding off the tax-payer trough.
The real shame here is that our enemies won’t just take out their aggression on the Liberals that make us weak and vulnerable. No many good Conservatives will also suffer through no fault of their own. Liberals, well they just get what is due, reap what you sow and all.
Your yapping on the old “military industrial complex” was already tried by the hippies in the 60s. Why don’t you take it to DU.
You are full of shit. UAV are important, but the pilots I know love the F-22.
Agreed. Acorn is like a nuclear bomb being dropped in each of our cities. Politically speaking.
Thanks for the ping, freema...I enjoy a post early in the morning that makes me want to scream.
If you address me ever again, do so in a civil manner. I’ll address you in the same way. Save your vulgarity for yourself.
As to your “pilot friends”, I suppose I’d like a Ferrari that someone else pays for and maintains, too.
Fact stands that the future of the USAF is in unmanned flight, not in manned flight. We can fill the skies with agile, almost invisible, and deadly UAVs for the price a single F-22.
Thoughtful and thorough analysis. Do I need to use the sarcasm tag?
You must be just waking up, eh?
Are you arguing that there is no military-industrial complex soaking up our tax dollars on wasteful projects? The military is a bureaucracy, just like the USPS. It has made terrible mistakes that have gotten heroes killed or maimed.
Why should we tolerate that? What if it was your child, father or mother?
Your positions are thoughtless and absurd. Generate some supporting arguments before you post.
Plus, I wouldn't be a hippy, I'd be a beatnik.
I think we need to get out of the business of manned fighter or bomber aircraft. The single most restrictive factor in improving aircraft superiority is the human in the cockpit.
Remove the pilot and you can design planes that are out of a SciFi fantasy.
If we are to win against an enemy like the Chinese we’ll need the capability of killing massive amounts of them with little harm to us. The war-fighting meme of the US military, since nearly its beginning, is to trade technology for lives. It is a sound one and fitting for a republic.
That future lies in UAVs not manned craft.
You’ve been reading too much Popular Science. Manned aircraft will be around a lot longer than you think.
Btw, what is your background in aviation that prompts you to disparage two excellent weapons systems?
SZ
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