Posted on 05/31/2004 5:34:13 PM PDT by VaBthang4
In case no one has been paying attention, the F-35 is D-E-A-D DEAD. There will be discussions, there will be reports, there will be development, research and limited funding. But next year, probably after BRAC, the F-35 will slip quietly into the night, never to be seen again. It is too fat, too slow and too late. It is done.
No, what it looks like to the enemy is the U.S. pouring money into a never-ending hole.Moreover, it's the F-22, not the F/A-22. It's a fighter. It wasn't designed for plinking at muddy ground targets.
What has happened is that everyone in the world now realizes that something more advanced than the F-18 isn't needed. The F-22 is overkill for replacing the F-15, F-16, and eventually the F-18 (and the F-35 isn't even worth talking about).
So after spending $26 Billion for 23 F-22's, the Pentagon bureaucrats are scrambling to justify keeping the Raptor around...hence: now it's the F/A-22. Yeah, right.
This is vastly too much money to be spending for a fighter that isn't sub-orbital...much less one that still carries a man in it.
Yes, it's stealthy, but we've already got stealthy ground attack fighters and bombers. Why spend for more?
What we don't have are orbital and sub-orbital fighters. Likewise, we need to spend more for unmanned bombers and fighters.
The F-22 missed its time. It was born just at the point where it offers no cost-benefit advantage in battle. It's fast, yes. It's stealthy, yes...but we've already got those traits in our existing fleet.
If we are going to pay for more, then we should be getting more. That leaves the F-22 out.
Good riddance to that beast.
"B-1B Drops first GPS-guided JDAM
A B-1B Lancer flying out of Edwards AFB, Calif., on Feb. 11 dropped a JDAM at China Lake test range in the first demonstration of the bomber's capability to deploy satellite-guided JDAMs."
You must work for Boeing.
In January 2004, an F-117 successfully released a JDAM (JDAM) 2,000lb bomb for the first time. The integration of JDAM and other precision-guided weapons on the F-117 is coupled with the Block II software upgrade and is planned to achieve Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in 2005.
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/f117/
Having sat in the depths of the TLAM planning cell during the opening days of OIF, I'd say we're screwing up if we use any manned aircraft to drop a JDAM on a Korean nuke plant. I watched third generation cruise missiles work magic. And those were just the old inventory we wanted to clear out to make room for the really good stuff. Call me a sellout, but we don't need the F-22 to take out fixed targets. We've got better capability already on the shelf.
| Mission | Close air support, air interdiction, counterair, airborne strike, suppression of enemy air defense | |||
| Targets | Mobile hard, mobile soft, fixed hard, fixed soft, maritime surface | |||
| Designation | GBU-31(V)1/B | GBU-31(V)2/B | GBU-31(V)3/B | GBU-31(V)4/B |
| Guidance Set | KMU-556/B | KMU-556/B | KMU-557/B | KMU-558/B |
| Service | USAF | Navy | USAF | Navy |
| Status | Operational | |||
| First capability | 1997 | |||
| Guidance | GPS/INS | |||
| Length | 152.72 in | 152.72 in | 148.60 in | 148.60 in |
| Diameter | - | |||
| Finspan | 25 in (10 cm) | |||
| Weight | 2,065 lb (936 kg) | 2,085 lb (945 kg) | 2,137 lb (969 kg) | 2,161 lb (980 kg) |
| Warhead | Mk-84 | Mk-84 | BLU-109 | BLU-109 |
| Range | up to 15 miles (24 km) | |||
| CEP | 13 m | |||
| Unit cost | $21,000 per tailkit (FY 01 dollars) | |||
| Platforms | B-52 B-1B B-2 F-15 F-16 F-117 F-14 F-18 | |||
I might agree with you on the F-35 if it wasn't already widely supported throughout the international community, with no viable alternative on the books.
No B-1 would ever get there without getting shot a dozen times. No F-117 would ever return from that mission. Both aircraft would require escort on Egress.
I ask you again. I'm talking about the most heavily defended airspace on this earth. If the B-1 or F-117 could have performed this mission, they already would have.
Rumsfeld said he wanted to skip a generation of technology. If true [and it seems it is considering he dumped the Crusader and Comanche] then the F-35 & F-22 should be next on the chopping block.
The F-22 may win out and live considering it's already flying matter but the F-35 is probably toast.
I would never call you a sellout, buddy. If anything, you aint gruntin' like I suggested, and those Gs are messin with you. ;-0
Who cares? We need 3 independent air forces? Let them use F-18s...
Those programs are SO dead.
As for those nations supporting the F-35, they are the ones screaming the loudest over the fat. The Aussies in particular. They don't want that fat baby anymore and are asking for Super Hornets. The EFA has new life too.
In the end there can be only one. F-22.
Critical parts for the F-22 are made right here in Helena, MT by Summit Aero. Engine bay doors and BDFX's roll off the line daily.
There are 65 steely-eyed killers, out there by the airport, working 24-7.
No, I disagree.
The Koreans simply dont have the training to react in time to such a strike. If we'd actually try and strike NK then we'd have F111 jamming everything they had anyway...what they turned on would be hit by weasils...the best they'd do is blind fire and then try & scramble something to give chase...hounds to the hunters.
The ChiKors couldnt drop it [them]. Maybe if they knew the planned route & waypoints [they wouldnt]. As to egress we'd already have Eagles waiting for it to DEDE out of the AO.
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