[pabianice]

Prayers.

[Moral Hazard]

"In the first reported crash of the military's next generation fighter jet, an F/A-22 Raptor slammed into the ground and exploded during takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base Monday afternoon."

I think this statement is incorrect. I remember during testing an F22 having a strange instability on takeoff where it went up and down in sort of a sine wave before crashing. Nobody was hurt in that case. If I remember correctly it turned out to be a software problem.

[anymouse]

Not the only Raptor to crash hard. :)

[Last Dakotan]

Government Accountability Office

Now there's a government office we need more of.

[demlosers]

Military fighters aircraft all crash at some point. This will not be the last F-22 to bite it. A fighter aircraft attrition rate is expected. Today, fighters are less at being lawn darts than the early days. By looking at the crash rates of today versus the fighter A/Cs during the 50s, 60, and 70s, today's fighters are much more safer.

In the past, the AF would lose many planes. At the end of the year, you could read the AF Times which showed the yearly tally which could reach over 100 lost A/C per year.

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

, the number of aircraft the Pentagon plans to buy has shrunk from 750 to about 300, according to the Government Accountability Office.

. . . while we send Africa $15,000,000,000 to maintain their unsafe sexual practices.

[jettester]

But as the cost of the F/A-22 has swelled, estimates range from $130 million to $250 million each, the number of aircraft the Pentagon plans to buy has shrunk from 750 to about 300, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Stupid reporter. If you have half the aircraft to spread the cost of R&D and start-up over, it is no wonder the contract cost per unit has gone up almost double. I have never heard of one government contract that reduced its' buy amount down (after contract award) where the cost per unit delivered hadn't gone up.

[xrp]

Whew, thankfully the pilot ejected safely.

...while a quarter billion taxpayer dollars goes up in flames.

Our military definitely needs less expensive warplanes.