The answer is to build 25,000 hi tech but still cheap piston/prop aircraft like the Skyraider or the P51 or basically any pre=jet prop attack aircraft and put the most modern missiles on them, would be quicker to build this fleet and a whole lot cheaper. The other nations cannot afford to mass build even copies of a Raptor and its a sucker game to chase them by trying to out do them, the answer is LOTS of cheap aircraft and un-manned aircraft.
Limit the production of the solid gold planes to enough to get the job done. The days of dogfights is over.
I concur. There are a lot of missions that just require bombs on target. If you don’t have to worry about enemy fighters or SAMS then there is no need to put extra stress on an expensive airframe.
That being said:
1. You still need to fly these a lot to keep pilots trained
2. AF planes ARE getting very old. The last B-52 rolled off in 1962 and most of today’s fighters were designed in the late 60s, early 70s. It is a crime that it takes nearly a generation to produce a new fighter.
The airplanes aren't just a platform for missiles. They are an integrated weapons system. The weapons integrate with the high tech electronics on board the aircraft. Weapons like the AMRAAM use the aircraft radar system to guide the weapon close enough to a target to acquire it on the missile's own radar system. You can't just strap a missile on a WWII fighter and have it work.
There are a lot of planes out there that are as good or better than the F-15 (The F1 and MIG 29). There are also a lot of high tech SAMS out there that are a threat to non-stealth aircraft. That's why we need a stealthy fighter and not some WWII Antiques. Also, the more planes you have the more support personnel you need to keep them flying. You need about 14 people per aircraft for maintenance and each of those folks need to get fed, paid, etc. There comes a point when you reach a diminishing return.
The idea of using a lot of cheap planes isn't really viable because you need a lot of expendable pilots to fly them. The US Air Force philosophy is to use fewer aircraft with better training and technology. We tried it the other way during WWII and lost as many as 60% of the aircraft on a single bombing mission.
Where do you get 25,000 pilots willing to fly “cheap crap”?
I remember hearing this song before. It was the wrong tune back in the 60's and it's the wrong tune still.
We had to learn a hard lesson with missile carriers only during the Vietnam unpleasantness,that's why even the F-22 mounts a gun today. Trying to regress to less capable, but numerous, aircraft and putting too much faith in UAV's is a prescription for disaster.IMHO.