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Elite 1K Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 1006 Status: Offline

JaM1977 wrote:

They got F-117 tech from Serbia... I would expect atleast that kinda STEALTH technology... I doubt it will be in F-35 STEALTH class, but who knows...

Seeing what something is made of is one thing. Figuring out how to make it is quite another. An example that comes to mind is the heat shield on the Apollo capsules. Apparently they've been looking at that for the new capsule since it would be a one-shot thing and cheaper than tiles. Even with the "recipe" they've been having difficulty duplicating it as apparently the processes were "lost".

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Enthusiast Joined: Sep 30, 2007 Posts: 52 Status: Offline

For the record: Even though Raptor has received a lot of negative publicity on its fly-away cost, it is by no mean the most expensive aircraft of the century. F-15Ks are purchased at a cost of roughly 100M per copy, while VH-71 Kestrel (modified AgustaWesland EH101 designed be the next US presidential Marine One) is projected to be $270M per copy Exclamation

As for F-35/JSF....

I have just read the majority of this thread and it has been very interesting, to say the least.

World Wars... thought provoking.

As far as the US:

WWI- being late comers, we played an important part indeed. However, we didn't "save" Europe"s butt- the Armistice would have occurred eventually.

WWII- We sure built a lot, everyone was getting some of our equipment. The Soviet Union did too, as well as bearing the majority of the fightting.

Not so much in the case of Italy, but have you ever wondered what the Japanese military would have been like with more modern technology?
____________________________________________________________________

Jumping to the current era:

It would be impossible to mass produce arms at the level we did in the 1940s. Groundpounder stuff, minor vehicles and munitions wouldn't be much of a problem, AFVs somewhat more difficult. Ship and (more importantly) aircraft production is severely hampered by the very technology that we rely upon.

The one thing I have not seen mentioned surprisingly(unless I missed it- sorry if I did), is the 1 crucial element England was worried about during the Battle of Britain: pilots.

Unlike WWII, where you got quick training in a couple of aircraft types before having to learn on the job hanging onto your leader's wing to gain enough experience to get by- how long does it take to train a fresh trainee to something like an F-22, F-35, or even older generation airframes? In a shooting war of attrition, unless the SAR crews do an even more outstanding job than usual, how could we keep planes airborne even if we could produce them fast enough?

Thinking about it, will that make them go the way of the dreaded UAV with our air assets in the future? That alone scares me!!! Shocked

UAVs have their place, as reconissance, even armed recon, but recon nonetheless. UCAVs scare me a bit. Autonomous planes lack human intuition and remote place could be succeptable to jamming or whoknows what?

So, what to do about coming up with more pilots? What would be the minimum time to get one from start to finish?

Enthusiast Joined: May 21, 2005 Posts: 21

StolichnayaStrafer wrote:

So, what to do about coming up with more pilots? What would be the minimum time to get one from start to finish?

A year for pilot training, 2 months for IFF, 1 month for survival schools, 6 months for RTU, then finally 1 month for MQT. At the end of that you have a basic wingman. Realistically it's not till the end of their first fighter tour that they're truly proficient.

Regards,
Murph

F-16.net Editor Joined: Sep 23, 2003 Posts: 2848

Maybe Gordon's motives aren't pure? Laughing

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... al-ve.html

Also:

http://tinyurl.com/ysbfqa

Quote:

Disagreement on the F-22 issue has reached the highest levels of the Defense Dept., according to industry sources. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he supports keeping the line open. However, England has registered some opposition, to the point of allegedly walking out of a meeting with Gates over the subject.

Wow, you would need a lot of backup pilots/ aircrew in a heavy war situation in this day and age. It's amazing how the advent of high technology has actually slowed down things in retrospect!

Elite 1K Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 1006 Status: Offline

elp wrote:

Maybe Gordon's motives aren't pure? Laughing

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... al-ve.html

Also:

http://tinyurl.com/ysbfqa

Quote:

Disagreement on the F-22 issue has reached the highest levels of the Defense Dept., according to industry sources. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he supports keeping the line open. However, England has registered some opposition, to the point of allegedly walking out of a meeting with Gates over the subject.

So when does England get the boot? (Or more appropriately apparently, a foot up the a$$.)

F-16.net Editor Joined: Sep 23, 2003 Posts: 2848

I think he goes away when the Obama/Winfrey ticket takes over. Laughing

Elite 1K Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 1006 Status: Offline

elp wrote:

I think he goes away when the Obama/Winfrey ticket takes over. Laughing

Dude, that's not even cool to joke about. Shocked

Newbie Joined: Oct 17, 2006 Posts: 7 Status: Offline

The DID article below updates our topic here. This article portends severe budget problems if Congress & the President fail to act soon (see link below).

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Agi ... #more-4737

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Forum: F-22A Raptor

Blow for "buy more F-22s" camp