Pilot: Raptor rules the sky passing tests flawlessly

Valley Press ^ | February 21, 2004 | ALLISON GATLIN

[thoughtomator]

"Embarassing the French" works for me, but we already have a number of aircraft carriers that (a) move under their own power, and (b) can actually have aircraft land on them. Oh, and we've won a war before.

[thoughtomator]

Humor is the hardest thing to transmit over the Internet, I'm afraid.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Logisitics aside, one Nimitz Class has about 5X the firepower of any other country's best carrier, not counting nuclear weapons. Counting logistics, the effective firepower is like 10X.

[thoughtomator]

Besides the UK, does anyone else really have an active aircraft carrier that can be depended on in a crisis?

[pfflier]

All it needs now is a mission!

Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it:

1) Although the Wright Brothers gave us powered flight, he US had no air capability in WWI. We relied on French and British designs. The average US airman survived less than five missions.

2) In WWII we had no front line fighter capable of taking on the axis until the P-47/P-51/F6F came online. Our airmen survived on guts alone until 1943.

3) In Korea, we were surprised and outclassed by the MiG-15. Our first generation jets were inferior and the F-86 was marginal in performance against the MiGs. The pilots survived on experience and guts.

4) In Vietnam, we took the guns off of our airplanes and made them missile bearing interceptors. We were never again going to see the enemy before we shot them down. Combined the USAF and US Navy lost 900+ front line aircraft to AAA, SAMs and peasants with rifles. Our airman demonstrated their courage as captives of North Vietnam.

5) After the fall of the Berlin wall, peace was breaking out all over. We were going to pound our swords into plowshares. Then we discovered that Russia was selling everything it had to anyone with the cash. So far we have been good at defeating this hardware, but someday we will meet someone with equal training , hardware and guts.

This won't be a job for last generation's fighters, and, we do not need to expose our pilots to the risk.

Buy the F-22, it is their life insurance policy

[Trueblackman]

Cheap Sh---I mean beer, Nah that isn't even beer anymore.

[pfflier]

The F-35, similar in design aspects (stealth and thrust vectoring) will be a joint service replacement for the F-16 (USAF) the AV-8B (USMC) and F-18A-C models (USN).

McNamara tried this first with the F-111 (TFX) it didn't work. Other attempts did..the F-4 Phantom II and the A-7.

[ATCNavyRetiree]

Yeeeaaahhhh Babbyyy!!
Looking forward to seeing them in air shows!

[thoughtomator]

If we really run into anyone who can put up a serious challenge to the aircraft we already have, that fight will be resolved with a nuclear exchange, not with fighters.

Are you certain that we could not use the money used to fund the F-22 to buy an even better life insurance policy for our pilots?

[American_Centurion]

But that's about all that GeronL could buy with his $3 lottery winnings : )

[pfflier]

Are you certain that we could not use the money used to fund the F-22 to buy an even better life insurance policy for our pilots?

My point is put them in an aircraft where they don't need the life insurance policy.

[GeronL]

lol. my $3 win is a topic for discussion now? Remember I did buy $15 in tickets...lol

[thoughtomator]

My point is that even given the wonderful benefits of this particular aircraft, there should be some cost-benefit analysis with regards to other possible expenditures. The money that pays for this stuff doesn't grow on trees.

[ASA Vet]

Buy the F-22, it is their life insurance policy

It's also likely our last generation of manned fighters.

[American_Centurion]

You are too humble and modest to boast about your gigantic win. Ha!

I guess these posts are proof positive that I don't anything important to do. It has been entertaining anyway.

[pfflier]

That I will agree on, but only if computer intelligence progresses to the "brilliant" stage.