Posted on 07/10/2020 10:09:35 AM PDT by mowowie
A hurricane that struck Florida in late 2018 damaged and displaced so many of the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor stealth fighters that the flying branch resorted to desperate measures to ensure it could fly enough F-22 sorties.
It underscores how few Raptors the Air Force possesses, and how fragile the fleet could be if it ever sustains major losses in wartime.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
If you ae referring to F-22s, only 189 were made before the Obey Amendment killed further production. Now only 125 or so are combat ready - all the rest are either spare parts, hanger queens or in maintenance. It would cost too much to restart production if were even possible.
The future is unmanned drones with AI or more quickly drones used as loyal wingmen controlled by either a single fighter or by a dedicated airframe.
Actually, it was the destroyer of the Boy Scouts, Robert Gates, who was the impetus behind the defunding of the F-22.
Nevertheless, Purple Lips was where the buck finally stopped.
Well...I work the overnight shift so i gotta go to bed soon.
BUT Tomorrow i’ll see what i can find!
Thanks to obunghole.
Yea, like the surprise unveiling of the F-117 i cannot wait to see what the Skunk Works has in store for us..
I second that scorn.
” astronomy, technology”
Trolling for jokes?
Airmen at Tyndall were able to fly out just 38 of the 55 Raptors prior to the storm. The remaining 17 jets—nearly a tenth of all F-22s—were down for maintenance. Those jets rode out the wind and rain in hangars. Some suffered damage.
Airmen promptly repaired many of the jets. Photos depicted small numbers of F-22 departing the Florida base on Oct. 21 and 24. The last three F-22s left Tyndall on Nov. 16.
or Boeing Phantom Works. Lockmart is Skunk Works - it just depends on who gets the final bid
If our air force gets destroyed (sabotage, neglect, etc) we still have our aircraft carriers.
LOL! I agree. Are you also taking requests? Monty Python biographies and the new FGC-9 pistol have potential. As well as lbry.tv stuff of credibility.
No i remember reading this when it happened.
They actually didn’t move them beforehand.
Incredible.
IIRC the transportation options were limited due to the time required for disassembly to fit on transports and get them out of there.
” Boeing Phantom Works. Lockmart is Skunk Works - it just depends on who gets the final bid”
Thank God for the Skunkworks and Lockheed.During the initial flyoff between the F-35 and the Competitor built by Boeing the Boeing Aircraft was truly a dog.
It couldn’t do half of the things required by the Air force Such as operating in a VSTOL Mode or flying supersonic from Vertical flight to Supersonic.
That was one ugly plane and it appeared to be built by a committee of Non-Flight engineers.
Look it up.That plane was a disaster in the making.Yet we still have critics bitching about the F-35.
Which begs the question why they were being kept there in the first place. Or why fortifying/beefing up the hangars wasn’t done.
I hope that's not just wishful thinking on my part although it likely is.
Combat readiness is far down the AF list of priorities now, same with the other services too. Insubordination to the Commander in Chief remains at the top.
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