Posted on 09/07/2016 7:55:34 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
(CNN) A $12 billion makeover is underway for the US Air Force's 1980's-era F-15 fighter, a step towards upgrading an air fleet that one military official recently called the "smallest, oldest and least ready" in history.
The F-15 has long been hailed as the most successful dog-fighting aircraft in US history, boasting an undefeated air-to-air combat record with more than 100 aerial combat victories, according to Boeing, the plane's primary contractor and developer.
The Air Force initially planned to replace the entire F-15 fleet with the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, but production of the stealthy aircraft was halted in 2009 and only 188 of the 749 F-22s purchased by the Pentagon were ever produced.
With rival nations like China and Russia quickly closing the technology gap that has allowed the US to rule the skies for decades and fewer F-22s than expected at its disposal, the Air Force has decided to invest in a major facelift for the battle-tested F-15 to help fill the void by extending its lifespan through 2040.
The upgrade will cover 435 F-15s, boosting them with new radar technology, updated mission computer systems, modern communication tools, advanced infrared search and track capabilities and electronic warfare defenses so the F-15s can work in concert with more advanced aircraft, the Air Force told CNN.
Many of the upgraded F-15's will also be modified to carry 16 missiles, rather than the standard eight, giving those aircraft greater lethality, said Boeing spokesman Randy Jackson. "Our potential adversaries are keenly awa
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Software.
Thanks for your post, but that was not the kind of political correctness and social engineering I was referring to.
Surely you’re aware of the corrosive effects we’ve seen on our commanding officers, our servicemen, our morale, and our readiness, haven’t you?
I understand. I work at a HQ USAF staff office and things have changed a lot since I retired 20 years ago. It has really complicated things. It's going to get a lot worse, too. When units deployed to the field we use to pack one latrine tent. Now we need male, female, gender neutral, gender undecided, gender fluctuating, etc.
We didn't need a whole decision tree to figure out who we could bunk together.
They had to rewrite a lot of regulations, forms, and policies to take out gender specific terms.
At a time when funding and manning are at all time lows we're spending hundreds of millions on political correctness that doesn't contribute anything to readiness.
Generals are fired for being too aggressive. It's worse than the peacetime military of the 80s.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to me.
And thank you for your service to this country. Your kind is badly needed!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.