• Entire U.S. Stealth Fighter Fleet Grounded
    65 replies, posted
[quote]In past few decades, the U.S. Air Force has spent untold billions researching and developing a family of stealth fighter jets that are supposed to be generations ahead of any dogfighters in the sky. [B]But after building more than 170 F-22 Raptors and a handful of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, not a single one is available for service. The Air Force currently has zero flyable stealth fighters. None.[/B] The vaunted F-22 has been grounded with a possible faulty oxygen system since May. Production of the last few Raptors is even on hold, because the jets can’t fly from the factory. Last week, test flights for the newer F-35 were suspended, too, because of a valve problem in the plane’s integrated power package. It’s the third time this year that JSFs have been forbidden to fly. Ground tests have resumed, and flight tests may resume as early as next week. Then again, they may not. Yesterday, the U.S. military committed to spending another $535 million to buy 38 more Joint Strike Fighters — a family of stealth jets that are supposed to become the multipurpose, affordable workhorses of tomorrow’s fleet. Ninety percent of America’s combat aviation power is eventually supposed to come from the jets’ three variants. But the jets have been anything but cheap. [B]The current cost for the JSF program is $382 billion and rising[/B] for more than 2,400 aircraft. No wonder just about every major deficit reduction plan scales back the JSF effort in some way. And, at the moment, they’re not producing any combat power, either. Back in 2002, the plan was to have more than 90 JSFs flying by next year. As things currently stand, the Air Force and Navy might not get their variants until 2016. The Marines — who knows? For now, every available penny in the JSF program is tied up in getting the jets back into the air and their programs on track. “The so-called ‘fifth-generation’ fighters have certainly revolutionized U.S. air power,” Ares’ Bill Sweetman noted, “if not quite in the way anyone had in mind.”[/quote] It's a good thing that the United States doesn't have any economic problems, or that the Joint Strike Fighter's stealth info was probably stolen by Chinese hackers. Because if that were the case, people might start to lose faith in the American military-industrial complex. Oh wai-:suicide: Source: [url]http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/entire-u-s-stealth-fighter-fleet-grounded/[/url]
:suicide: God dammit, R&D should not cost 382 fucking billion dollars.
what a waste of money does the US really need to wave its dick around
[QUOTE=Leon Trotsky;31701794]what a waste of money does the US really need to wave its dick around[/QUOTE] That's more of Lockheed Martin's fault for making the F-22 so complex there's something broken on it all the time. 2 brothers in the Air Force, they're always saying how the 22's are broken most the time. You must have edited just as I said this.
[QUOTE=OvB;31701857]That's more of Lockheed Martin's fault for making the F-22 so complex there's something broken on it all the time. 2 brothers in the Air Force, they're always saying how the 22's are broken most the time. You must have edited just as I said this.[/QUOTE] That's the militaries fault for buying them then.
[QUOTE=OzJackal;31701784]Needs a source.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/entire-u-s-stealth-fighter-fleet-grounded/[/url]
fuck america, they're going to completely destroy the world economy if they keep pulling bullshit like this
This is exactly what the US government wants you to think has happened, when in reality, the project while continue with such stealth that not even the pilots will know they are part of it.
[QUOTE=Cuntsman;31701931]fuck america, they're going to completely destroy the world economy if they keep pulling bullshit like this[/QUOTE] nah
[QUOTE=ilikecorn;31702097]Yes because america is the only one having issues right now, and everyone else is perfectly fine.[/QUOTE] everyone is having issues because of america
Now the Soviets will strike
[QUOTE=Cuntsman;31702158]everyone is having issues because of america[/QUOTE] lol
Is this why Lockheed Martin's stock took a dive last month?
[QUOTE=Cuntsman;31702158]everyone is having issues because of america[/QUOTE] Oh goody its the "I blame America because I don't actually know what's going on" guy
[QUOTE=Dr.C;31702261]Now the Soviets will strike[/QUOTE] I do believe we're likely to see a space Nazi attack soon. I mean with the shuttle gone, and all out stealth fighters out of the sky, how can we defend against all the billions of UFOs they've been building out of moon dust?
pull a china and scam them off to some middle eastern country after giving them half-fast repairs, then beat the shit out of whoever built these fighters
[QUOTE=RichyZ;31701772]cmon we can sell a couple of those f22s[/QUOTE] No thanks, I'd rather not defeat the entire point of designing and building the single most terrifying air supremacy fighter to ever take to the skies by selling them to other people. I imagine the B-2 pilots take great insult to not being included as part of the stealth aircraft inventory. Y'know, that billion dollar aircraft capable of cruising through most modern RADAR systems and CARPET BOMBING a target?
So we've gone from the F6F Hellcat of WWII to a modern equivalent of the Kawanishi N1K, joy.
[QUOTE=OvB;31701857]That's more of Lockheed Martin's fault for making the F-22 so complex there's something broken on it all the time. 2 brothers in the Air Force, they're always saying how the 22's are broken most the time. You must have edited just as I said this.[/QUOTE] The stealth coating needs constant maintenance and the aircraft self diagnoses the most minute disruption in performance as being something that needs attention. The aircraft are picky by design so that when they are actually in the field, they operate at peak performance.
[QUOTE=OvB;31701857]That's more of Lockheed Martin's fault for making the F-22 so complex there's something broken on it all the time. 2 brothers in the Air Force, they're always saying how the 22's are broken most the time. You must have edited just as I said this.[/QUOTE] Heh. I just read Martin van Creveld's "Age of Airpower", and the point you make about the F-22's complexity makes me want to directly quote this from the book: [quote]There are historical grounds for suspecting that the combination of very high quality and very small numbers is a typical sign of military degeneration. A good example of the process is the development of ancient Greek warships. As the term indicates, the Athenian triremes that ruled the sea at the time of Pericles had three banks of oars each. Later more were added until some Hellenistic vessels had ten and more. So few, expensive, and cumbersome were these ships that they could never be used in battle; faced by smaller, but more numerous, opponents, they must have been helpless. Some are known to have ended up being captured in port by the Roman legions, which, needless to say, advanced by land.[/quote]
They are grounded till further notice. :saddowns: [editline]13th August 2011[/editline] Must have strick parents. [editline]13th August 2011[/editline] P.S: 1,000th post.
[QUOTE=Atlascore;31703484]Eventually however you reach a point where you're so advanced you just beat the crap out of opponents even if they out number you. The F-22 however is not that advanced, sadly, it needs to be scrapped it's cost us too much money for so little gain.[/QUOTE] Well, the history of warfare has shown that while the technological superiority of one weapon system over another is undoubtedly important, it is also very transitory, and advantage swings like a pendulum from one side to the other. Exploiting such a temporary advantage can certainly lead to victory - this was done in Desert Storm in a secondary role, but reliance on technological superiority over time is certainly a dangerous illusion. As an aside, in Operation Desert Storm, the coalition had both quantitative [i]and[/i] qualitative superiority over the Iraqis. It's not surprising to see the Iraqis get beat as badly as they did when the coalition outnumbered and outgunned them.
[QUOTE=GunFox;31702507] I imagine the B-2 pilots take great insult to not being included as part of the stealth aircraft inventory. Y'know, that billion dollar aircraft capable of cruising through most modern RADAR systems and CARPET BOMBING a target?[/QUOTE] Entire US Stealth [i]Fighter[/i] Fleet Grounded
You know, its times like this when I wonder why no one learned from the Panzers III to King Tiger. Kicked ass, until they got destroyed or broke down and became garbage.
[QUOTE=GunFox;31702507]No thanks, I'd rather not defeat the entire point of designing and building the single most terrifying air supremacy fighter to ever take to the skies by selling them to other people. I imagine the B-2 pilots take great insult to not being included as part of the stealth aircraft inventory. Y'know, that billion dollar aircraft capable of cruising through most modern RADAR systems and CARPET BOMBING a target?[/QUOTE] Last I checked, it was 2 billion dollars
[QUOTE=RichyZ;31704307]i'm pretty sure thats how all vehicles work[/QUOTE] One of the reasons why the Sherman tanks were so numerous was because while they were shit compared to the Panzers, they're insides were simple. They were known as Coffins for a reason, because you just clear out the old crew, patch it up and replace some parts and its moving again.
[QUOTE=RichyZ;31701772]cmon we can sell a couple of those f22s[/QUOTE] Maybe, but we should take out all of the sweet, sugary goodies first. Don't want proprietary US Govt' tech falling into the wrong hands. Now on topic, I don't get why we need so many expensive stealth aircraft. The old ones still fly fast and can still drop devastating warheads. I say we stretch our dollars and use these older aircraft until they start falling apart. Then keep a few dozen gen 5, stealth aircraft in reserve.
[QUOTE=RichyZ;31705073]why do we need stealth aircraft when we are just fighting dudes with maybe zpu-4s and trucks with guns mounted on them[/QUOTE] We still gotta prepare for the future. Just cut down on that prep a bit because it's killing us financially. Better to have something and not need it than to need something, but not have it.
This is a fucking bunch of bullshit, this money could be going towards much better things than god damn luxury air planes for recon/war. This money could go towards creating jobs, education, health care, and much more but instead it goes to U.S. Army trying to be the best.
[QUOTE=Leaf Runner;31705253]This is a fucking bunch of bullshit, this money could be going towards much better things than god damn luxury air planes for recon/war. This money could go towards creating jobs, education, health care, and much more but instead it goes to U.S. Army trying to be the best.[/QUOTE] Blame the military-industrial complex, It runs the world
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.