B-16707

not sure if anyone posted this but man....
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

__________________

N. Eberhard

And now nearly 200 are grounded UFN....all of the oldest ones. Not a good thing.

B-16707

i can be really cynical and say that the government planned this so they could get funding for the f-22 .

__________________

D-AIHC

Sure...when it involves the military, anything is possible!

__________________

Lufthansa - Star Alliance member since 1997

N. Eberhard

The Pentagon has only approved half of the number of F-22s that the Air Force asked for.....at least so far.

I am not suprised to see these 25 yr old fighter jets falling apart. F-15s are the workhorses of the Air Force and ANG.

champpitbull2

Yeah, we enjoy killing our friends in order to get new planes.

gospodin

Yeah, let's bring back the F-4s! Or better yet, let's buy some MiG-29s to fill the gap.

__________________
Steve

I either want less corruption in government, or more opportunity to participate in it.

corby78

MiG-29's? If were going the route of buying jets, I'd put my vote in for the Su-27/30.

C-Rex

No one said it's not possible.

Imagine MIGs with USAF titles.

L-1011-Heavy

No But The Military Will Jump On Any Opportunity For Leverage To Get What They Want. I'm Sure Some Of The Brass Will Look At The Loss Of A Few Pilots As Cost Of Doing Business, Just As If In Conflict In Iraq.


I Like How The General Said It Was Too Expensive To Fix The Defective F-15s, But When Asked If The 200 Milliion Dollar Price Tag For Each New F-22 Was Too Costly He Then Said "How Much Is Our Security Worth? It's Priceless"

I'm Gonna Take An Educated Guess It Would Cost Less Than A Few Hundred Thousand To Replace The Defective Parts That Were Too Thin To Start With.

__________________

The Heavy Armada
"In The Absence Of Excellence, There Is Only Mediocrity."

champpitbull2

When you're talking about mods to military airplanes it's rare that the price isn't in the millions. The longerons are a major structure of any airplane that basically form the backbone from the nose to tail. In this case the plane broke apart just aft of the cockpit. This would be a pretty expensive repair without a doubt. Not worth it in my book for an airplane that is no longer on the cutting edge. The planes that were affected weren't the newer F-15E's which serve a dual air-air /air to ground function. These planes are almost strictly air to air which is an arena that is becoming a much more level playing field with the revitalization of the Russian aerospace industry.

F-22's are needed in a big way. Not far from here, Venezuela now has SU-27's which are much more of a match then the Mig 29's that were shot down in Iraq and Kosovo.
Pilots are lost every year because of the nature of what the military does. In peace time and in war. But, if you think that they aren't mourned or that their lives are simply taken for granted, you haven't a clue about the brotherhood in the military. It is a Generals job to evaluate a situation and react to it. It is their job to look to the future and plan for the future threats. While they must fight the current war, they have to balance that with preparing for the future and what threats will be posed.
The F-22 is the future and it is what the USAF needs. No it won't make a difference in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it will make any conventional military think twice about engaging in conflict with the US. The F-22 has been laying a whooping on anyone and anything that tries to go toe to toe with it. What used to take 4 F-15C's can be done by 1 F-22. The biggest limiting factor for a Raptor in a dog fight is the amount of missiles it carries. Raptors are posting kill ratios around 100-1 in combat exercises. The F-15 can't compete. By purchasing 381 Raptors as opposed to the current order that falls short of 200, the price drops. In addition they are more like 120 million a piece which is less then the 4-6 F-15's that it replaces.