Entire U.S. Stealth Fighter Fleet Grounded

http://www.extremeconservatives.com/2011/08/entire-u-s-stealth-fighter-fleet-grounded/ ^

[chessplayer]

In past few decades, the U.S. Air Force has spent untold billions researching and developing a family of stealth fighter jets that are supposed to be generations ahead of any dogfighters in the sky.

But after building more than 170 F-22 Raptors and a handful of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, not a single one is available for service. The Air Force currently has zero flyable stealth fighters. None.

[chessplayer]

The more complex the machine, the more things that can go wrong. Planes are of little use if they are continually grounded for one reason or another. The USSR had it right in the Cold War. Their planes were not as technologically advanced as ours, but they made up for it with overwhelming numbers of them. And their planes could take a beating and keep going. They could land and take off on battered airstrips that our planes could never do.

[gorush]

I heard that the Ruskie’s birds had vacuum tubes as opposed to digital...which would survive an EMP attack.

[DesScorp]

Colonel Boyd was right. He was always right. And we’re doing it wrong.

Every more expensive, complex planes means a small, bug-ridden fleet with no real military value. Time to bring back the Fighter Mafia in USAF.

[thinkthenpost]

Hmmm, I guess we could ask the Syrian and Egyptians how that Soviet Bloc equipment worked out for them.

[steve86]

The Air Force currently has zero flyable stealth fighters. None.

Well, no non-black program ones, anyway.

[tet68]

Headline not exactly correct, F-117s and B-2 bombers
still flying.

[SZonian]

"The Air Force currently has zero flyable stealth fighters. None."

Not true. Hyperbole is not a good way to start an article.

They may not be operational (war ready), but they're flying.

See 'em flying around a few times a week here.

They're busy testing anything and everything they can think of to find out what's causing the contamination in the OBOGGS system.

I'm confident that they'll figure it out.

[pietraynor]

Way to go Obama administration! Let the enemy know your flight readiness status. Next thing they will tell us that they had to bring all the SSN’s into port and open the launch tubes to air them out. IDIOTS

[Enchante]

golly gee, I also remember how Iraq’s masses of Soviet gear were supposed to inflict massive losses on US forces in the 1991 Gulf War....that even if we could win it would be such a bloody quagmire that our military would never recover.... how our high-tech equipment would be breaking down all over the place there.... after all, we’d been reading/hearing all about the problems with the M1 Abrams tanks, the F15s and F16s, the F117s, the B1s and B2s etc. etc. etc.

Not saying that there are not often serious issues which need to be addressed, but c’mon we’ve been told this kind of stuff about every advanced weapons system for decades.

[SZonian]

They were saying the same thing about the U.S.S. Monitor.

There will always be naysayers when it comes to military technological advancements.

In regard to your “high tech equipment” comment; in DS/DS, FMC rates for USAF aircraft were at their highest in years. The maintainers were working their tails off. (I know, I was one of them.)

[GBA]

The cold war B-52 boxes I'm familiar with, other than having a few nuvisters on the really old stuff, was all solid state and had big ‘EMP diodes’ so they could survive long enough to return the favor and hopefully return to base.

[omega4179]

Yep we made fun of the tubes in the 1970s but they allowed an extremely powerful radar set that was also emp proof.

[maddog55]

F-117 and B2 don’t fit the fighter model.. at least in my book.

[Doe Eyes]

I heard that the Ruskie’s birds had vacuum tubes as opposed to digital...which would survive an EMP attack.

Our stuff survives EMP and has modern computing power.

[The KG9 Kid]

"... The Air Force currently has zero flyable stealth fighters. None."

Then I have to wonder who was flying the two F-22s that flew over my house last week.

[tet68]

Ok, the B-2 doesn’t at least as far as we know.

[sten]

gee, you mean 0bama’s plans have left us without a stealth fighter, leaving the domination of the skies to the chinese?

who woulda thunk it

[USMCWife6869]

All these billions wasted, and they want to take my husband’s pension to balance the defense budget. Nice.

[Vermont Lt]

They are grounded for a precautionary fix. It is a safety thing. If we were in need of them, aim sure theybwould fly just fine.

[Vermont Lt]

They are grounded for a precautionary fix. It is a safety thing. If we were in need of them, aim sure theybwould fly just fine.