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Originally Posted by rojodiablo
A plane built for no threat, to replace perfectly capable planes which cost 1/10th as much, with technology ALREADY pirated and copied by the Chinese (Their bird flew before ours did....LOL)
And, since countermeasures are always easier to design and always cost less, the planes' stealth advantage will be rendered moot in short order.
Let's see just how willing we are to have them take on an offensive role outside our territories. We do not deploy the F35outside, and a big part of the reason is a very valid fear of losing the technology. This is a very real threat, as the Iranians already have shown they could simply command a very sophisticated drone to land where they wanted it. Let's not forget; that drone has all kinds of 'stealth' technology designed into it. And they found it, and just pirated it.
FWIW, we should have gotten in on the upgraded F15 for the AF. The one we sell to Australia, Korea and Israel. No need to develop or re-open a production line; it is there, up and running. And the new F15's are incredibly capable, with better avionics than the original/ in service and updated F15 fleet.
As it is, the newest F15 is without peer in a combat fighter role. It has only a few equals in a fighter-bomber role.
And, we could have gotten 10 F15's for every F22.
The Raptor??? Send the whole idea to the SCRAPtor.
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Gee Rojo, that is the most "full-on" display I have seen in a long time, I'm surprised the administration hasn't hired you already. General Hawk Carlisle, chief of Air Combat Command calls the F-22 the most tactically important airplane on the planet. The Chinese are presently flying two J-20 prototypes, and one J-31 prototype, so no they didn't get the jump on us, they have NEVER flown a fifth gen aircraft on a single operational mission. The F-35 is for sale to all our partners and allies, Great Britain, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Italy, etc, etc,. Also, the Aussies have never flown an F-15, they operate the Bug and Super Bug, maybe you can WIKI that.
The Marines and Air Force have already stood up operational F-35 squadrons and if I'm not mistaken the USN is reactivating the Grim Reapers to fly their first F-35Cs. Yes, as of tonight, the Raptor remains the most capable fighter aircraft ever flown, it will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. Hope this helps, I hate to see nice guys put up a display like this, but I have to admit, it certainly is a beauty. Air Force Brat- AKA billy magg