Forum: Program and politics

That would go against over half a century of US defense procurement policy. Here's an article that shows some of the roots of how it works:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-0 ... mplex.html

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Isn't this what they did with the F-22; capping production so they could buy 'the next thing' in the F-35 that would be SO much cheaper....

Not a good plan, by the time the 'next generation' shows up everything will be more expensive, and your old equipment is broke and/or out of date.

It's like saying I don't want to buy a new car because they're so expensive, so I'll maintain my old car and wait twice as long to buy a new one. By the time you go to purchase the new car the old one is eating you alive in parts and reduced performance (Not to mention it costs a fortune to convert all your music to 8 track). The 'new' car is now even more than it would have been 10 years ago (plus all the extra $ you sped wringing the last few dimes from the old one)

My Two Cents

TEG

That_Engine_Guy wrote:

Isn't this what they did with the F-22; capping production so they could buy 'the next thing' in the F-35 that would be SO much cheaper....

Not a good plan, by the time the 'next generation' shows up everything will be more expensive, and your old equipment is broke and/or out of date.

It's like saying I don't want to buy a new car because they're so expensive, so I'll maintain my old car and wait twice as long to buy a new one. By the time you go to purchase the new car the old one is eating you alive in parts and reduced performance (Not to mention it costs a fortune to convert all your music to 8 track). The 'new' car is now even more than it would have been 10 years ago (plus all the extra $ you sped wringing the last few dimes from the old one)

My Two Cents

TEG

Agreed..

That plus you may well simply not have an industry base to make the next generation.

And hey, canning the next generation worked so well for Comanche - what are we into now, 7bn for a replacement that hasn't emerged yet? They could have just built Comanche and had done with it.

That plus the billions in bits you'd be spending to keep the old jets the air while everyone else in the world builds that generation you're skipping..I dunno where these people live, but it's not in the same space time continuum as the rest of us.

shingen wrote:

That would go against over half a century of US defense procurement policy. Here's an article that shows some of the roots of how it works:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-0 ... mplex.html

People are stupid. There's a prime example.

I'm not sure what to think about the F-22 program being reduced. I'm guessing they decided it was irrelevant in many conflicts, overkill in almost all and that the F-35 could do its job in the rest. I think the maintenance cost issue was a big factor.

In WWII, weapons platforms changed, but were still made with the same tools over the course of a war. Now, it takes so long to develop a weapon system, weapon platforms themselves stay the same, though they are often upgraded or customized during a war.

There's an idea. We'll just stockpile aluminum and transistors and if we need F-35s we'll just pop a few out! Crazy Pilot

You working for the other side, shingen?

stereospace wrote:

You working for the other side, shingen?

I posted the article to show why the F-35 program will likely be continued and is necessary in order to have a healthy 6th gen.

Forum: Program and politics

Canceling the F-35 and skipping a generation