Posted on 11/16/2013 9:13:16 AM PST by Sequoyah101
The Air Force is offering big bonuses to keep its pilots in the service, but they’re not taking them because budget constraints are forcing the service to limit both current flying hours and opportunities to fly the next generation of aircraft,...
(Excerpt) Read more at defenseone.com ...
now its full scale open....who wants that?....
They have to identify them in order to promote them.
For all those who argue with me on the benefits of "serving openly gay", I ask just one question:
How long do you think I would last in any job if I strutted about declaring that I enjoyed having sex with females in the missionary position at least 2-3 times per week?
It may be true and it may be normal, but it would guarantee only two things:
"The great oak tree had stood on a hill over the Hudson, in a lonely spot of the Taggart estate. Eddie Willers, aged seven, liked to come and look at that tree. It had stood there for hundreds of years, and he thought it would always stand there. Its roots clutched the hill like a fist with fingers sunk into the soil, and he thought that if a giant were to seize it by the top, he would not be able to uproot it, but would swing the hill and the whole of the earth with it, like a ball at the end of a string. He felt safe in the oak tree’s presence; it was a thing that nothing could change or threaten; it was his greatest symbol of strength.
One night, lightning struck the oak tree. Eddie saw it the next morning. It lay broken in half, and he looked into its trunk as into the mouth of a black tunnel. The trunk was only an empty shell; its heart had rotted away long ago; there was nothing inside – just a thin gray dust that was being dispersed by the whim of the faintest wind. The living power had gone, and the shape it left had not been able to stand without it."
(Atlas Shrugged)
What’s the old joke...
Marine colonel asks a private “what time is it”
Private: 9 o’clock sir!
Colonel: Son this is the Marines! As a Marine the time is 900 hrs. Army is 0:900. Air Force. When Mickeys little hand is on 9 and big hand is on 12! But it is certainly not 9 o’clock!!
spoken like a true f-35 acolyte.
Never presented it as fact. This is an opinion board as well.
Nonetheless... even this article appears to be chock full of FACTS about delays, cost over runs, reduced performance expectations and results, higher life cycle costs etc. Many of the problems are created by DoD (including USAF) procurement practices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
Program nearly doubled in price: Cost is 70% higher than planned.
Years overdue: In 2001 DoD said it would be combat capable in 2010. It is now at least SEVEN years behind schedule.
Marines target for combat ready is now 12/2015
USAF 12/2016
USN 2/2019
This article may be from what some consider a spurious souce but seems pretty factual: http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/fy2012/pdf/dod/2012f35jsf.pdf
It may eventually be a fine aircraft but it is a badly run program and that FACT will not change.
Is it a FAILURE? There are problems, but again, is it a FAILURE?
Maybe it’s such a failure that SK is on the verge of purchasing 60 of the aircraft...some failure...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/korea-joint-chiefs-set-back-140332396.html
Pilots, especially fighter jocks are egoists to the max...I really don’t care if there are that many F35’s for them to sit in, they still have aircraft to fly.
They’re probably throwing hissy fits since they weren’t selected as cadre for the training bases, fighter wings etc.
Some of the technology on the F35 surpasses that of the F22Raptor...which controls the skies and isn’t even sold overseas.
The Raptor has incorporated some F35 technology to make it even more dominant.
As far as cost overruns and delays, this is what happens when you lose your defense industrial base,less competition, less capacity....higher costs and more time to operational.
The same people who moan for less defense spending, were told of these potential problems.
The F35 is being bought by our most trusted allies...to take on Chinese stealth generation aircraft...so apparently, our Asian allies like it.
FU...and your “acolyte” ad hominem...delays don’t equal FAILURE.
So go and find the rest of your little lying, exaggerating and outright petulant cabal and enjoy you circle jerk.
I think the mess that is happening at Shaw AFB right now is another reason. There are things in that TSGT’s story that don’t add up to me.
ac·o·lyte (k-lt)
n.
1. One who assists the celebrant in the performance of liturgical rites.
2. A devoted follower or attendant.
Oh my, we are a bitter aren’t we? Do you have any more dull knives in your bag of epithets?
Some people are destined to fix things and only a select few are chosen to fly them.
What do the female pilots think?
This pick up stakes and leave mentality, will wind up doing to the military just what it did to California.
When are my fellow Conservatives going to learn, that surrendering territory to the Left, is not a gain. It is simply a surrender, and it is the same thing in the long run as painting yourself into a corner.
Man, when to we take a stand and fight back? Lets start retaking territory unless we desire to see the Left’s goals realized.
With cost over-runs and engineering failures, and a platform that is overweight and loses LO capability when it carries an operational CAS load-out, yes, in my opinion it is a failed program.
Fixes are on the way, costly, but they are improving the platform.
The tanker replacement program is a “failure,” please explain the facts to back that up, please, as I read no reports saying the -46 is anywhere near late or incapable of the mission.
Thanks.
Oh, a little inter-service banter. . .but remember this, the Navy, it’s not just a job. . .it’s a silly job (and one wonders about a flying missions where the highlight is the landing). . .and somehow men that hanker to be trapped aboard a ship, surrounded by 5,000 hot sweaty guys. . .well, Obambi is so proud (”pride” is a big thing in certain quarters).
Cheers.
;-)
Since obama has been occupying The white House , from what I read, the Armed Forces have been catering to homosexuals. Let them fill the vacancy.
“so apparently, our Asian allies like it”
They like it because the F-22 is not for sale internationally.
“Fixes are on the way, costly, but they are improving the platform.”
LOL...only about halfway through the testing phase.
I am referring to the procurement fiasco that began, as I recall, with an plan to lease the airplanes in 2002. This was followed by claims of impropriety in the bid process, a protest by Boeing and some assistant sec of the AF being cashiered. The details are murky but the whole of the replacement program has been delayed by this program mismanagement and we hang by a thread for sufficient tankers.
The -46 is a reasonable airplane and should do the job it needs to do to replace the 135 and -10 but it was needed long ago. The failure is that aircraft, much needed years ago, have not yet been supplied.
This excerpt from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC-X
The current KC-X program follows earlier attempts by the USAF to procure a new tanker. A 2002 plan had the USAF leasing Boeing KC-767 tankers, followed by a 2003 modification where the USAF would buy most of the KC-767 aircraft and lease several more of them. Corruption investigations revealed wrongdoing in the award of the contract and the contract was canceled in 2005, setting the stage for the KC-X program.
“loses LO capability when it carries an operational CAS load-out”
Look at the entire integrated system. If the F35 is in full external capacity, you don’t need Low Observable. Is the A10 low observable? NO.
The F22 Raptor is the best ever air dominance fighter and will clear the skies. The F35 is for strike and defeating A2/AD threats.
Once we have air dominance and access, both will complete the strike and close air support missions.
And, they cannot stand the CinC. Neither can I.
That just about goes without saying. Can’t stand is a way too mild for me.
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