somewhere, PukinDog is laughing his azz off...
Posted on 12/22/2016 4:07:34 PM PST by libstripper
President-elect Donald Trump took his air war with defense contractor Lockheed Martin to another level Thursday with a tweet threatening the future of the costly F-35 aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Hey I’ll one up you and say we bring back that sopwith camel. Some things folks jump all over in this election never ceases to amaze me.
I wouldn’t be surprised that Boeing is consulting with General Election Aero Engines for an upgrade to the F404 engine to push it over 19,000 lb. thrust. That would allow the F-18E/F to fly even faster.
Anyway, in the same way cancelling the Raptor's continued production was not prudent, simply cancelling the F-35 without a proper think wouldn't be either.
And I am saying this as someone who thinks the F-35 is a pig, but it may be a pig that is still better than any current legacy aircraft.
Agreed, my good FRiend.
In fact, my reply to an earlier thread on this topic...
There is actually better idea.
Much MUCH better, in fact...
Restart the F22 program!
.
I feel like a combination of F22s and A10s would give us more for less than a pile of F35s. F35 seems like it does a lot of things OK, but nothing particularly well.
This coming from a guy with a C172. Take it for what it’s worth.
Can you say “margin compression”? I sold my LMT last week. Made a nice return, time to move on.
Bookmark .. looking forward to our resident flyboys’ input on this . . .
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So many opinions will be based on where the F-35 creates jobs.
This is not just F-35, it’s Navy ships, AF planes, etc. As far as the disagreements go, it’s not all just about military worthiness, it’s also about money and jobs.
Point taken. Repeal ACA and simplify the tax code. Reduce burdensome regulations, and then focus on Defense contracting after the economy is heading in the right direction under it’s own power.
One of the services, I think the Marines, wanted a vertical takeoff/landing fighter. One F-35 variant was thus designed to do that. Probably this ability to be a swiss army knife fighter is what made it so expensive. BUT it also means the F-22 can't do everything the F-35 is designed to do. Maybe the F-35 can't either, I don't know. But the F-22 certainly cannot.
The Marines are supposed to get a VTOL variant of the F-35. They have assault carriers designed for jump-jets and have already retired their Harriers. If you cancel the F-35, the Marines are out of the fixed-wing aircraft business.
I was recently at the Nellis Air Force Airshow in Las Vegas and got to see the F35 fly. The F22 flew unlike anything I ever saw before in spectacular fashion, the F16 could fly almost likewise, the A10 was down right scary and if I was the enemy I’d crap my drawers if I knew it was hunting me.
The F35 merely took off banked in a turn and landed. I thought it was a very disappointing performance.
I talked to the pilots of the all the planes I saw fly there. They were all super enthusiastic about their planes except the F35 pilot who was no way near as enthusiastic. None of the pilots of the F22,F16,A10 would say a bad word about the F35 but no one would say anything good about it. I was left with the impression that the F35 was kinda of a pig.
By the way there was a Heritage flight near the end of the show where the F22, F35 and an old F86 Sabre flew all together in formation. The F86 was chosen to fly in lieu of WW11 aircraft because the F35 could not fly slow enough without stalling according to an Air Force pilot I had talked to.
Not so if they get new Super Hornets. I talked to a Marine pilot and he sure loved his Super Hornet. He refused to talk about the F35.
And a restart of the A-10, with night fighting abilities built in.
+1
somewhere, PukinDog is laughing his azz off...
Also, the AF won't like having to use F-18's, which are built to Navy specs.
None of this is new. The services have always had specific needs for aircraft and the F-35 was supposed to meet ALL of them. That's hard to do on a budget....
Lindsey Graham is an F-35 tragic, but McCain has been critical of the F-35 program since 2011
The F-22 is superior in many ways.
As I understand it the F-22’s electronics architecture is really somewhat limited. What they need to do is build a new Block that entirely starts over while preserving the airframe, engines and as much of the avionics as they can. Incorporate the Helmet cueing system and so forth. BTW that is still a very tall order. And it will very much be a new aircraft — a Super Raptor.
That’s because McCain and Graham are Boeings men in Washington. That’s why they trash the F-35.
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