Another "praise the Raptor" article

[HuggyU2]

Shack!!

The worlds' greatest instrument of Air Superiority has not come without great cost. I'll be the first to jump on the "this thing is fucking amazing" bandwagon - but, the price has been high, both politically as well as financially, for the Air Force. Not sure why we were able to bring in the F-117A (an equally, for it's time anyway, advanced aircraft) with such relative ease and the F-22 has been surrounded with controversy. Perhaps the secrecy of the early stealth project also shielded it from the political drama. It seems the only thing the Air Force, as a whole, agrees on about the F-22 is that it kicks ass in a fight. No doubting that.

If the Navy does go this route, hopefully they can avoid the dividing effect it had on their "sister" force.

Never fails, bring a hot chick into the O-club and there's bound to be a fist-fight. Still though, nobody wants her to leave

Damn Horny! I never knew you could string together that many sentences in one thought process! I always figured comm brevity was your mantra, unless of course you're drooling on the bar, telling a flying story. Or chatting up the hottest chick in the bar in Georgetown who happens to be the bartenders girlfriend,... but I digress. :icon_zbee

 

[HornyU2]

T-38 /Raptor 3-ship

Damn Horny! I never knew you could string together that many sentences in one thought process! I always figured comm brevity was your mantra, unless of course you're drooling on the bar, telling a flying story. Or chatting up the hottest chick in the bar in Georgetown who happens to be the bartenders girlfriend,... but I digress. :icon_zbee

Dammit Huggy - you weren't supposed to see that. Now your gonna go tell everybody in the squadron that I can read. As far as Georgetown, well I said above that nobody is going to accuse me of making smart decisions regarding women.......

I have some great pics that I was gonna post on here from the T-38 trip we took to Nellis to provide some red-air support. Fidel and I pushed to the range in a 3-ship with a Raptor and another one of our black 38's. Some great shots of us all on the runway for lineup and then again (5 minutes later) when we finally caught up, and joined up. I just remember leads apology in the debrief for lunchin us, but that he had the power back around like 50% - we were in full blower and cheating with every angle we could find. I know the 38 is no modern fighter, but it's not exactly a pig with both motors in full grunt. It was a great time for the U-2 bubbas - definitely out of the ordinary. Cool to fly up close to the 22 and get the special capes brief. I was thoroughly impressed, but as you know, doesn't take much :tongue2_1

 

[eddie]

A lot of folks would rather us buy the cheap, crappy weapons, like those of the enemies we routinely beat the crap out of. Examples being Pierre Sprey or Carlton Meyer.

I searched and found some, but not as much on Meyer. Seemed like the argument was: stealth is a waste because no one is going to use radars and it's all going to go to the merge anyways. ??? Want us to buy lots of F-16s or something...

 

[Lawman]

Important thing to remember. When the Navy was looking at a Carrier-borne ATF similar in capabilities to the F-22 it was also planning on continuing the idea of dedicated role aircraft. So guess we better dust this bad boy off while we are at it...

 

[ACowboyinTexas]

Important thing to remember. When the Navy was looking at a Carrier-borne ATF similar in capabilities to the F-22 it was also planning on continuing the idea of dedicated role aircraft. So guess we better dust this bad boy off while we are at it...

I remember when we were waiting in Intruderland to transition to the Dorito. That was an equally n ice capabilities brief for something we were never going to see.
Does anyone else think Huggy and Horny need a room?

 

[Uncle Fester]

I've had a pet theory that when Cheney killed the A-12, it began the current cycle of acquisitions pain; that is, as soon as a project goes over budget, kill it. Before that, it seemed like a system had to be absurdly out of the contract specs before it got killed (e.g., the Sgt York and F-111B).

Discuss.

 

[SteveG75]

Couple of points that the folks on that site don't address:

1) Corrosion control. Rain can damage a B-2 to the point that its RCS suffers. What will happen to a F/A-22N that lives on the flight deck for six months? Anybody think the RCS will survive in this environment? Will we only keep the Raptors in the hangar bay?

2) Carrier compatibility. I think their estimates to navalize a F/A-22 are wildly optimistic. Heaver gear, folding wings all add weight. Drop tanks will be required for endurance, reducing RCS. Here was our last attempt to navalize a USAF "fighter".

Anybody that ignores the integration of our surface shooters into defense of the CSG has no idea how the USN fights. Here is our true air defense asset:

 

[cisforsmasher]

The multiple cruise missile threat, isn't that what AEGIS was designed for?

these guys seemed to have a decent grip on reality

http://www.strategypage.com/militaryforums/8-5520.aspx

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

Couple of points that the folks on that site don't address:

1) Corrosion control. Rain can damage a B-2 to the point that its RCS suffers. What will happen to a F/A-22N that lives on the flight deck for six months? Anybody think the RCS will survive in this environment? Will we only keep the Raptors in the hangar bay?

Why bother with the F-35 then?

 

[HornyU2]

Does anyone else think Huggy and Horny need a room?

Fair enough, sorry for the thread-jack.

Cheers

 

[MrFreakinKite]

Not a bad idea, if we had the money. But alas, we don't.

If it was in Obama's agenda, it wouldn't really matter if we had the money or not. It doesn't seem like $11,000,000,000,000 of national debt seems to matter very much. "Fvck it, print more money!"

 

[HeyJoe]

Shack!!

The worlds' greatest instrument of Air Superiority has not come without great cost. I'll be the first to jump on the "this thing is fucking amazing" bandwagon - but, the price has been high, both politically as well as financially, for the Air Force. Not sure why we were able to bring in the F-117A (an equally, for it's time anyway, advanced aircraft) with such relative ease and the F-22 has been surrounded with controversy. Perhaps the secrecy of the early stealth project also shielded it from the political drama. It seems the only thing the Air Force, as a whole, agrees on about the F-22 is that it kicks ass in a fight. No doubting that.

If the Navy does go this route, hopefully they can avoid the dividing effect it had on their "sister" force.

Never fails, bring a hot chick into the O-club and there's bound to be a fist-fight. Still though, nobody wants her to leave

Navy did have an interest but it was over 18 years ago. Lots of Navy folks were working on the Navalized F-22 variant labeled as the Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) that was intended to be a replacement for the F-14 Tomcat. When the AX (A-12) program fell apart in 1991 and the Peace Dividend pressure forced DoD to look at a common platform for needs of the service, Navy transitioned to A/F-X from ashes of the AX and NATF was absorbed into that effort. Before they really got anywhere, things came to a head in 1993 with DoD insisting that only one new aircraft would be developed. With Marines sticking fast to their VSTOL requirement, JAST was initiated to merge Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force requirements, which later became JSF. F-22 was allowed to continue, but Navy needed something on their flightdecks with aging F-14 and A-6 Intruders needing a replacement, Boeing polished up their proposal for a major upgrade to the Hornet, which became the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet that literally came into being overnight as an interim solution with a cap on development funding.

As to the Navalized F-22, every once in awhile, you'll see one of these on someone's desk who worked on the NATF program during its brief tenure.

Lockheed-Boeing AFX-653 Navalised F-22

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

Navy did have an interest but it was over 18 years ago. Lots of Navy folks were working on the Navalized F-22 variant labeled as the Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) that was intended to be a replacement for the F-14 Tomcat. When the AX (A-12) program fell apart in 1991 and the Peace Dividend pressure forced DoD to look at a common platform for needs of the service, Navy transitioned to A/F-X from ashes of the AX and NATF was absorbed into that effort. Before they really got anywhere, things came to a head in 1993 with DoD insisting that only one new aircraft would be developed. With Marines sticking fast to their VSTOL requirement, JAST was initiated to merge Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force requirements, which later became JSF. F-22 was allowed to continue, but Navy needed something on their flightdecks with aging F-14 and A-6 Intruders needing a replacement, Boeing polished up their proposal for a major upgrade to the Hornet, which became the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet that literally came into being overnight as an interim solution with a cap on development funding.

As to the Navalized F-22, every once in awhile, you'll see one of these on someone's desk who worked on the NATF program during its brief tenure.

Lockheed-Boeing AFX-653 Navalised F-22

That's pretty cool looking if I do say so myself.

 

[HornyU2]

As to the Navalized F-22, every once in awhile, you'll see one of these on someone's desk who worked on the NATF program during its brief tenure.

Lockheed-Boeing AFX-653 Navalised F-22

Sweet looking plane - looks like the 22 with variable swept wings and a trunk seat. Never knew this existed - thanks. Now, I can earn cheesy brownie points when I see one of these on some commanders desk. "Sir, I see you worked on the NATF......." Vice the normal foot in mouth trouble that pictures usually cause me "Sir, beautiful daughter - takes after her mother I'm sure (cheesy grin)................'That's my wife'............ Anyway, about your signature................"

 

[Lobster]

"No matter how hot she is, someone, somewhere, is completely tired of her shit."

Ain't that the truth.