History is full of dead aircrew because some congresscritter said:
"The Japanese couldn't make a quality fighter. They only used our scrap steel and beercans."
"The Germans couldn't shoot down a B-17...It's a flying fortress with 13 .50 calibre machine guns."
"What's a MiG-15?"
"We don't need guns on the F-4 those missiles will never let the enemy get close enough."
"Russian SAMs can never shoot down a high flying plane."
We won the cold war, we are in danger of losing the peace that follows. Whenever we are not prepared to fight the next war, we pay the price in blood.
Surely, someone with your background and experience can discern between the ability of the CiC to recognize, prepare, and execute over the perceived deficiencies of the weapons system.
The Zero was only good because our aircraft were substandard when comparing the Zero to the P-39 and -40. Our pilots were inexperienced at the outset of WWII. It's many weaknesses were quickly exposed once we were fully engaged in combat and our war production came online. The Corsair and Hellcat were hardly the pinnacle of our piston engine designs and they chewed up the Zero.
Thirteen .50 cal guns don't mean much when you're flying a predictable course at a predictable altitude and speed through heavy flak.
The MiG-15's existence was no secret or surprise. The fact the Soviets exported it to NK, China, and even flew it in combat against us was, but should not have been.
The F-4 only failed in its BVR capability during Vietnam because it was not allowed to be used. Visual ID was required. Dumb command decisions can't be blamed on the aircraft.
We never lost an SR-71 and probably wouldn't have lost a Valkyrie, had it been continued. That said, I am glad that drove us in the direction of stealth. It would probably be wise to have a combination of high and fast with low and slow. Future UCAVs may give us that.
Hell, we may even have something, for all I know. I remember distincly how off base people were about the F-117 when they thought it was going to be something like the rendering of the F-19.