[Rokke]

"Also, you do realize that Rutan has *already* gone sub-orbital this year, yes?!"

The V-2 went sub-orbital. But it is a long way from the Space Shuttle. The magic of the F-22 isn't the airframe. The magic is in its avionics. Orange County Choppers could probably build a 9g fighter. It takes the finest minds in American industry to incorporate an Air Force's worth of electronics into a single aircraft.

[Southack]

" The magic of the F-22 isn't the airframe. The magic is in its avionics."

Then the Pentagon bureaucrats who want to save the F22 should tout the electronics. Instead they harp on the F-22's stealth airframe and its high speed (never forgetting to mention the miraculous "supercruising" capability). Yawn.

Even the F-22's avionics are in question, as this article mentions that the F-22's radar needs to be upgraded already to something to fit its new mission profile of plinking at ground targets.

Frankly, we can put avionics on just about any modern fighter. So I'm unpersuaded that avionics are the key F-22 breakthrough.

Heck, lets just say it: I'm unpersuaded about the entire F-22. Sure, it's the best fighter ever made...but its closest competition was the F-18. We're paying to beat ourselves in a race that has already been lost to civilians who are now going sub-orbital at Mach 6.