Posted on 04/23/2016 9:50:19 PM PDT by cba123
U.S. lawmakers have asked the Air Force about the possibility of restarting production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, an endeavor that would be far more complicated than signing a check and flipping the lights back on.
In its review of the 2017 defense authorization bill, the House Armed Services Committee asked service leaders to look into what it would take to build 194 new Raptors, enough to finally meet the Air Force's long-stated requirement of 381 jets. HASC chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and others say the world has changed since 2009, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates halted the F-22 program at 187 aircraft in order to double down on the multirole F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. For one thing, the stealthy, supercruising Raptor was expected to keep the U.S. as undisputed king of air-to-air combat for decades. That turned to be overly optimistic.
"We've seen both Russia and China develop airplanes faster than was anticipated," Air Force Lt. Gen. James Holmes, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a March 8 hearing.
(Excerpt) Read more at defenseone.com ...
(and I don't want it covered online)
Just posting the article, because it seems interesting. I agree Russian and China are both in a major upswing in military spending however, and we need to be very aware of that in the future.
We also need to begin to bring back factories to America.
Big time.
Stealth is retarded. Upgrade F-15s and enjoy lording over the skies. The F-15se makes sense, but stealth is a nettle of hardware vs software. Software to allow radar to “see” what it already picks up grows at an exponential rate.
Airframes fly for decades. So unless you can build an airframe so advanced you can defeat every AAA radar software for decades to come, you will always lose every single time. That is why you do not build an F-35 that is defenseless without stealth. Because essentially in 5 or 10 years it wont have any stealth left at all.
Build another 500 A-10s, another 500 F-15s, another 500 F-16s, and upgrade the avionics on the current inventory of B-52s.
L
I don’t know about that.
Again I am just a civilian without military experience.
But the F-22 seems to this American, like the best jet out there for the entire next generation.
BINGO !
The real question is whom is our foe and his capabilities. If the foe is Russia a conventional war will soon escalate to nuclear war and the stealth of any aircraft is of no importance least it be delivering a nuclear bomb.
If it is a non nuclear foe, send them a polite message that says if you do not cease your actions you will die in a nuclear hell.
Stealth is great against a non nuclear foe. It is irrelevant against Russia and China with the exception of nuclear delivery systems.
Our Boomer submarines have the ability to destroy any nation. Just one boomer can destroy any nation on earth as a functional society as do our stealth bombers the B2 but it will take more than one. Our B52s can do the same with stand off cruise missiles.
Stealth is great in fighters that are fighting a non nuclear foe. If the foe is nuclear, it does not make much difference as the battle will be decided with nuclear weapons on the cities and military installations of each
Airframes fly for decades.
The F15 has been flying for decades. Some have come apart in mid air. It is a great plane but they won’t last for ever.
The raptor is an amazing aircraft. It is capable of unbelievable air superiority and should have never been shut down.
Wont belp if we keep selling major infrastructure companies that are here to China.
Govt did used to block these sales on national security/tech transfer reasons. Not since Obama and Clinton regimes.
Lacking in conventional military strength and tools means that you lack options for anything less severe than use of nukes...and using nukes has a high bar. This allows you to be taken apart oiecemeal as long as the opposition stays below that bar at any given instance. It *invites* brinkmanship.
On both sides of that.
We used to block transfers of major infrastructure companies, and we used to at least try to keep tech secret. Those cultures have to be rebuilt.
I make that three.
The F35 should be halted immediately.
The reason (this is my Spidey-Sense talking here) that The Usurper’s admin put all their eggs in the F35 basket is because they *knew* that it would be a hugely expensive and ineffective boondoggle that would put the US in an untenable position for decades.
Every decision of this administration should be viewed as if it was being made by our most bitter enemy. These decisions only make sense when you consider their potential to hurt us.
Our current inventory of airplanes (with updated avionics of course) is the best at what they do - each in his own way.
No better ground support than the A10.
No better dogfighter than the F16.
No better long range interceptor than the F22.
No better fighter/bomber than the F15SE.
And of course the B52 - because B52!
Policymakers need to have more flexibility than choosing between being the next Chamberlain and the next Hitler. That’s what your recommendation does...it is all or nothing.
If I’m not mistaken, the F-22 frame can’t handle carrier requirements.
I just did some quick seat of the pants calculations.
Based on a rough construction cost of $20MM per plane for the 1,500 new fighters and the average Federal benefits currently paid to illegal aliens we can recoup the cost on a ten year average by deporting right around 240,000 illegals. (That’s individuals - or roughly 60,000 families. Wouldn’t want to separate them now would we?)
If we did that each year, we could also pay for the maintenance and sweeten the deal with a few F22s after the first couple of years.
I thought the current COC had ordered all the fixtures and jigs destroyed back in his first term.
EVERYTHING obama does either:
a) Weakens America/AmericansThere are NO counter examples.
b) Distances America's allies
c) Strengthens America's enemies
d) Attacks Christianity
e) Serves islam
f) Harms Israel
Or some combination of the above.
I would consider replacing the A-10 with a modernized A-1 Skyraider (air cooled diesel radial engine for fuel compatibility), but the current A-10 is the best at what it does. F-15 and F-16 airframes still have potential, but the oldest airframes in inventory are over 30 years old and suffering from fatigue problems. The B-52s in current inventory need to be replaced as I believe they are the second oldest set of airframes in the Airforce inventory (KC-135 I believe is older). A new design replacement for the big bomb truck for the US Airforce that can do all of the B-52 missions better and more efficiently would be a positive. More efficient means less time in maintenance between missions and less fuel per ton of bombs carried, and possibly less aircrew.
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