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To: Boogieman
I don't know if civilians simply don't understand how the US military works or - perhaps more problematically - if their only understanding of how the US military works is based entirely upon Spielberg and Michael Bay movies.

We have 'test ranges' for two reasons: The first reason is we don't want to test the shiny new toys in the spying eyes of our enemies. The second reason - and it's really the first reason - is we don't test experimental aircraft in places that could pose a hazard to people on the ground or other aviators because experimental aircraft have a nasty habit of - get this - crashing. Imagine what would happen if during the 2004 incident, our 'super secret experimental aircraft' collided with one the F/A-18 because they didn't want to tell the navy that the same exact spot they were going to be running flight ops they were also going to be testing the new aircraft that can defy the laws of physics as they're currently understood.

That is why we don't test aircraft over international waters in airspace that is uncontrolled and/or in flight altitudes that are commonly used by civilian aircraft and military aircraft alike.

75 posted on 06/08/2021 12:01:29 PM PDT by ScubaDiver (Reddit refugee.)
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To: ScubaDiver

Are you trying to claim that we only ever fly classified aircraft on test ranges until they have been disclosed to the public?

Because you know, of course, that claim is completely untrue and provably so, from declassified public records.


76 posted on 06/08/2021 12:08:16 PM PDT by Boogieman
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