Posted on 04/20/2016 8:00:08 AM PDT by huldah1776
Increasing threats from China and Russia are causing some lawmakers to look at restarting the F-22 fighter production line, a House Armed Services Committee staffer said Tuesday.
The draft defense authorization bill from the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces requires the Air Force to deliver a report to Congress by Jan. 1, 2017, detailing future aircraft shortfalls and what it would cost to buy more F-22s.
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The committee is asking the Air Force to provide cost estimates for another 194 F-22s.
The committee staffer said the report was included in the bill at the request of a member, but declined to say which lawmaker. The staffer also stressed that the bill requires only looking at restarting the F-22 production line, and is not a sign that Congress will actually support such a measure.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and guess it would be very expensive," the committee staff member said
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
The A-10 has a much different mission than either the F-22 or the F-35.
I agree - it should be treated as a criminal act, or at least have contract clauses that force the manufacturer to eat the cost of replacement tooling. Until the last of a given airframe goes to the boneyard or USAF museum, the tooling should be mothballed.
:) can’t miss that one! THANKS! visual learner.
DANG!
Hope I get to an air show (preferably Cherry Point) this year. One day I saw a jet with a totally strange shape. haven’t seen it since. I think I was in MO at the time. Got to see Whiteman’s birds a couple of times flying over Springfield MO for Independence Day. I only see transports out of McGuire now but I always wave. Enjoyed waving to the Osprey pilots when they flew over in Jville.
I used to love reading spy books but traitors should be shot in public.
I think the F-22B would have some upgrades like a smart helmet, data linking and AIM-9X integration that would absolutely make it unbeatable for decades to come.
The data linking ability could integrate F-16s and even F-15 as drones in a combined air battle force. That is a cost effective way to keep the 4th gen fighters viable and help boost fleet numbers to levels that are realistic in dealing with future threats.
I worked extensively with the subcontractors at the time and they can still meet the needs of the program. Their tooling needs are minimum and the advances in computer aided manufacturing, particularly 3-D printing may well replace most of the tooling and premium casting methods they previously used.
This is "do-able" if the USAF doesn't hang alot of new horns, bells and whistles on the airframe
It would be a waste of money to build them unless they were to be remote controlled or used only to blast the odd jihadi Toyota. Against an opponent with missiles flying these would be suicidal.
Is the F35 a fighter or bomber? From what I have read it really doesn’t do either one well. It looks to be a total turkey. If I have to into a furball over the South China Sea I think I would rather be in a Raptor, Hornet or Eagle than the F35.
Huh?? Are we talking about the F-22?
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Quad 23-mm cannon, radar-guided.
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