by "whoarder is tellurium" (whoarder)
Published 05/01/2017 at 21:16
by "whoarder is tellurium" (whoarder)
Published 05/01/2017 at 21:16
Tags: Planelopnik
STARS: 3
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson: Exercise Northern Edge 2017.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Now, if you’ll excuse me ... I am having Alaska withdrawals.
"TheNeonDriver - Now with More BMW!" (streetrolledtechonolgy)
05/01/2017 at 23:31, STARS: 1
You can keep your F-35's, please give us more F-15's!
"random001" (random001)
05/02/2017 at 01:20, STARS: 2
I just literally watched that exact plane take off and land. Guess where I am!
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
05/02/2017 at 02:20, STARS: 0
The -15 still looks like the baddest-ass aircraft in the sky. A couple of those F-35 guys were awfully eager to show off how quickly they could lift their gear, no ego involved, I’m sure.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/02/2017 at 10:01, STARS: 1
Dat F-15C doe. Probably the last great honest-to-god fighter we’ll ever produce. And now the AF is talking about retiring the C and D and replacing them with F-16s.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/02/2017 at 10:01, STARS: 1
You are exactly where I would like to be.
"whoarder is tellurium" (whoarder)
05/02/2017 at 10:37, STARS: 0
Yeah, that’s a sad situation they’ve put themselves into.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/02/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 1
The F-35 is really screwing everything up. Everything.
"whoarder is tellurium" (whoarder)
05/02/2017 at 10:47, STARS: 0
I’m sure the F-35 has potential to be a good aircraft at some point, but shame on all 3 branches for putting their “eggs in one basket”.
I read something yesterday that the Navy is considering a Block III Superhornet for a mix of Gen 4 and Gen 5 (F-35). That makes sense to me and I dont understand why the airforce couldnt do something similar.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/02/2017 at 11:37, STARS: 1
The F-35 certainly has potential, and I have stayed out of the camp that does nothing but criticize it. I don’t really envy anybody in the AF who has to make these decisions. They have been saddled with a plane that is behind schedule and so grossly over budget that it is eating up all the money they need for other programs. They want to cut the A-10 to make money for the F-35. They want to cut the F-15C/D to make money for the F-35. They didn’t build enough F-22s because they needed the money for the F-35. Hell, even England had to retire their Harrier IIs because they needed the money for the F-35s they are buying, and they won’t even have aircraft to put on their new Queen Elizabeth -class carrier when it’s done. The US Marines will be flying F-35s off the Lizzie on its first deployment.
"random001" (random001)
05/02/2017 at 12:10, STARS: 0
It’s a bit lonely, though. Just some state of the art war making hardware to keep me company...
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/02/2017 at 12:16, STARS: 0
I knew a guy back in the 80s who was stationed at Adak. Talk about lonely.
"whoarder is tellurium" (whoarder)
05/02/2017 at 12:17, STARS: 0
I will give credit to Lt. Gen. Bogdan for doing his best to get the F-35 to where it is now and (apparently) reign in Lockheed a little bit.
Its a cluster and we’re left with a fleet of aircraft with maxed out hours. The reluctance to keep the F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 lines producing replacement jets is insanity. The orders we do have are all for foreign customers.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/02/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 1
Which presumably means that we could make more for us if we had to, but we really need about 200 more F-22s. Or more.
"whoarder is tellurium" (whoarder)
05/02/2017 at 13:51, STARS: 1
Of course, there is the counter argument to that and its time/cost of restarting and using “older” 5th gen technology.
I say screw it, do it anyways and upgrade the F-22 in the process.
OR
Buy and deliver whats off our current production lines. 4.5 gen aircraft will do just fine until the master F-35 plan comes into effect and 6th gen aircraft become a real thing.
Personally, I don’t see the benefit in extending the hours of existing aircraft. Sure, it might save a little bit of money but unless we can “zero” the airframes its just kicking the can down the road.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/02/2017 at 13:57, STARS: 1
I think the F-22 ship has sailed. I don’t see them restarting it. But with no F-15C and only a handful of F-22s, where is the air superiority fighter? The F-35 certainly isn’t one; in fact, I read an interview with AF general Mike Hostage saying that he needed the F-22 to fly cover for the F-35. I think the AF (and Navy and USMC) have had such tunnel vision on the F-35 that they’ve lost sight of the bigger picture.