Jets Shredded, Kept Away From 'Bad Guys'

Comcast News ^ | 7/2/2007 | SHARON THEIMER

[HEY4QDEMS]

WASHINGTON - A mechanical monster grabs the F-14 fighter jet and chews through one wing and then another, ripping off the Tomcat's appendages before moving onto its guts. Finally, all that's left is a pile of shredded rubble _ like the scraps from a Thanksgiving turkey.

The Pentagon is paying a contractor at least $900,000 to destroy old F-14s, a jet affectionately nicknamed "the turkey," rather than sell the spares at the risk of their falling into the wrong hands, including Iran's.

Within a workday, a $38 million fighter jet that once soared as a showpiece of U.S. airpower can be destroyed at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., the military's "boneyard" for retired aircraft.

"There were things getting to the bad guys, so to speak," said Tim Shocklee, founder and executive vice president of TRI-Rinse Inc. in St. Louis. "And one of the ways to make sure that no one will ever use an F-14 again is to cut them into little 2-by-2-foot bits."

[HEY4QDEMS]

"And one of the ways to make sure that no one will ever use an F-14 again is to cut them into little 2-by-2-foot bits."

Damn ouch!

[B Knotts]

That’s just wrong.

[Dick Bachert]

That’s kinda like with So Damn Insane and the boys did to folks they didn’t like.

[WhiteGuy]

and I thought there was no waste in the defense budget...

[Cicero]

Is our government so damned far out of control that they can’t control sales of fighter planes to our enemies?

It doesn’t speak very well for our ability to keep key information away from the Russians or the Chinese, does it?

[DancesWithBolsheviks]

“There were things getting to the bad guys, so to speak,”

Perhaps they can have an amnesty with a buyback program.

[JamesP81]

It's too bad to see an old warbird like that shredded, but I'd rather see the old planes scrapped and melted down than in the hands of bastards like Ahmadinejad.

The Tomcat was a great aircraft for air defense of naval task forces. While the new F-35 will also get a good aircraft, I doubt it will ever measure up to the Tomcat in raw performance or air to air combat abilities. Then again, I guess they figure it's going to be good enough to deal with chinese built knock offs of Russian planes so maybe it makes sense.

[dead]

The Pentagon is paying a contractor at least $900,000 to destroy old F-14s

Typical government efficiency.

Push them off an aircraft carrier over the Marianas Trench.

[herMANroberts]

Sounds like when GM picked up all the leased electric cars and demolished them instead of selling them to the lessees so that they wouldn’t be seen on the road anymore.

[theFIRMbss]

>The Pentagon is paying a contractor at least $900,000 to destroy old F-14s...rather than sell the spares at the risk of their falling into the wrong hands

They're afraid these guys will get hold of the old planes and start busting myths...

[theDentist]

How about cutting the bad guys “into little 2-by-2-foot bits”?

[P-40]

Push them off an aircraft carrier over the Marianas Trench.

That is what I was thinking. That is a lot of cash to do a simple job.

[HEY4QDEMS]

While the new F-35 will also get a good aircraft, I doubt it will ever measure up to the Tomcat in raw performance or air to air combat abilities

Agreed, the Tomcat was the pride of Naval aviation.

[Huntress]

Years ago, I worked at Radio Shack. When we had to get rid of old unsold merchandise, we were instructed to smash it before putting it in the trash, to prevent some dumpster diver from “returning” it for a “refund.”

[wastedyears]

But I love the Tomcat. Is there any way to get a piece of it, like a flight stick or something?

[wastedyears]

I love that show.

[wastedyears]

How do you return anything without a receipt?

[Domandred]

What ever happened to stripping the hard points and mil-spec avionics, installing commercial avionics and reselling the planes to civilians? I know someone that has picked up a couple surplus fighters (and flies em too). I know he’ll be bummed when he finds out he can’t get an F-14.

[JamesP81]

Agreed, the Tomcat was the pride of Naval aviation.

Like any machine, though, it eventually wore out. From what I've heard, keeping them airworthy was getting increasingly difficult, and they haven't built them for a long time.

I still think the Navy would be well served by a long range air defense interceptor to replace it, though. China's air force has a multitude of long range bombers capable of carrying anti ship missiles much the way the Soviets did; a serious threat that the Tomcat was intended to counter. That threat isn't gone and the Navy still needs a defense against it.

[HEY4QDEMS]

How about cutting the bad guys “into little 2-by-2-foot bits”?

And then feed them to Pigs.