Replies

Just my two cents, but I think these programs are taking a new direction due to the changing face of modern warfare.

The JSF and the F-22 are looking more and more irrelevant thanks to the success of UAVs as combat aircraft. Stealth is a great thing, but China and Russia have been working overtime to come up with viable countermeasures. Today's stealth aircraft won't have the ability to dominate the battlefield in 5 to 7 years quite like they did in Iraq. With the advent of less than 100lb turbojet engines and GPS/Sat guidance, you can expect to see "flying" munitions with ranges well in excess of 1000km.

The V-22 Osprey has been under fire from the get-go. It's extreme flight dynamics make it a tough sell. Add to that the fact that its only advantage over rotary wing transport is its range and its prospects look even dimmer. Don't expect the USMC to be flying these in the future.

The Crusader...artillery, big guns, they always make me smile. Unfortunatley, the Crusader was obsolete before it came off the drawing board. Even though our military hasn't been exactly chatty about it, we field tested EMP weapons during the Gulf War. EMP weapons emit a burst of electromagnetic energy, frying anything with a circuit board in its effective range. It was an accidental discovery by our scientists during the nuclear weapons tests in the 50s. In Iraq, it worked like a charm, it not only wiped out a substantial portion of their early warning capabilities but it played monkey-hell with the Iraqi communication systems. You can be sure China and Russia noticed and aren't too far behind us in its development. When these weapons are arrayed against us, you'll see field artillery on the battlefield become the prominent weapon again, something that hasn't been the case since WWI. That artillery will be the good old fashioned 155mm type with red-legged artillery crews slamming in shells by hand and gun officers aiming the guns with a compass and a map. The Crusader relies exclusively on solid state electronics and would be turned into a really expensive picnic table in an EMP engagement. Most of the noise during its cancellation was made by politicians who stood to lose $$$ on Crusader contracts in their districts, not the forward thinkers in our armed forces.