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Marine F-22s

SteveG75

Retired and starting that second career
None
Good for Boeing, not so good for the US generally. If they bail completely on JSF, that will only raise our cost per unit.

Brett
Brett, these were just newspaper editorials. Of course, the budget crisis is much greater over there than here so everybody is looking to shave a penny (or a pound) as appropriate.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
"You think you hate it now...wait 'til you drive it."

Vacation_familytruckster.jpg

I've had "Holiday Road" stuck in my head all morning since reading this...goddamn you.
 

SteveG75

Retired and starting that second career
None
View attachment 10339

Try thinking of this, and replacing the music with the theme from Magnum P.I.

Yeah, got to love the 308GTS in Vacation. But don't forget Christy coming back in the Mondial convertible in Vegas Vacation with the baby in the back seat.
i072311.jpg


BTW, is that Family Truckster the STOVL variant? I seem to remember Clark getting it airborne off a ramp.
 

GroundPounder

Well-Known Member
Yeah, got to love the 308GTS in Vacation. But don't forget Christy coming back in the Mondial convertible in Vegas Vacation with the baby in the back seat.
i072311.jpg


BTW, is that Family Truckster the STOVL variant? I seem to remember Clark getting it airborne off a ramp.

The GTS is the more appealing car to me, but unfortunate while I could afford to buy one, I might not be able to afford to maintain it. One day maybe...

Was it you that mentioned buying an 80s Ferrari in another thread?
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Let's get this back on track. You guys can geek out about cars and women who are past their prime via PM. ;)

Brett
 

draad

Member
Rhino's are an amazing aircraft but in a decade or so when China has a completely developed J-20 and Sukhoi has finished their PAK FA would you rather fight it with a 4.5 gen Rhino or a 5th gen F-35? Rhino's are GREAT for right now but if you cut the F-35, you're not going to be able to change your mind in 10 or 20 years.....not to mention the F-22 production line is all but dead and we simply won't have enough of them to be effective against fleets of PAK FAs or J-20s. On top of all that you're telling me I still get to keep my VSTOL capability? I'll take F35s any day over wasting that money on Government Healthcare/bailouts/etc. If we could do it all over again, I'd say the argument for not having a JSF is strong...but we've simply put too much into it already to not follow through (already made THAT mistake with the Raptor).
 

Fog

Old RIOs never die: They just can't fast-erect
None
Contributor
I'd rather enter contested chinese airspace in an F/A-18F w/ a WSO in the backseat running a multi-mode AESA radar than fly myself in there hoping that all-aspect awareness system works as advertised while I'm trying to navigate, communicate, find the target, bomb it & get the hell out alive.
 

EODDave

The pastures are greener!
pilot
Super Moderator
The F-35B is on its death bed. Way to many problems, over budget and way behind. Its time to cut bait with the Bravo and roll along with the A and C's. That being said, the per unit cost of the JSF is going only going to go up. There is no way that we (Navy, Marines and AF) are going to get it in the numbers we want. So, what is the Corps to do? Their Prowlers are slowly falling apart as are the Marine Hornets. The smart thing to so would be to go E,F and G Rhino's coupled with the few F-35's that we are going to get. Now you have all new A/C and guess what? All the Marine WSO's / ECMO's have a future.
 

helolumpy

Apprentice School Principal
pilot
Contributor
The F-35B is on its death bed. Way to many problems, over budget and way behind. Its time to cut bait with the Bravo and roll along with the A and C's. That being said, the per unit cost of the JSF is going only going to go up. There is no way that we (Navy, Marines and AF) are going to get it in the numbers we want. So, what is the Corps to do? Their Prowlers are slowly falling apart as are the Marine Hornets. The smart thing to so would be to go E,F and G Rhino's coupled with the few F-35's that we are going to get. Now you have all new A/C and guess what? All the Marine WSO's / ECMO's have a future.

So does the MEU just go without the ordnance delivery capability of organic fixed wing aircraft or does it get made up through another platform?

Since we can't always rely on a nearby airbase or a CVN to provide that capability, does the MEU just go without? There is inherent risk with your thoughts. Can we mitigate that risk or just accept it?
 

eas7888

Looking forward to some P-8 action
pilot
Contributor
So does the MEU just go without the ordnance delivery capability of organic fixed wing aircraft or does it get made up through another platform?

Just throw a couple of destroyers/cruisers equipped with these in to the mix, and the need for fixed wing ordinance delivery is greatly reduced.

Yeah, I know it's not a perfect system, and there are a million other factors to consider . . . but given the range that that these weapons SHOULD have, coupled with the ability to put rounds on target much quicker than an aircraft being launched and you have a viable supplement to fixed wing operations. When you couple this with UAV operations (a dirty thought to most people here), is there really a NEED for the F-35B?
 

Harrier Dude

Living the dream
So does the MEU just go without the ordnance delivery capability of organic fixed wing aircraft or does it get made up through another platform?

Since we can't always rely on a nearby airbase or a CVN to provide that capability, does the MEU just go without? There is inherent risk with your thoughts. Can we mitigate that risk or just accept it?

That's a small price to pay to make sure that WSOs and ECMOs have job security.

Despite what the Boeing sales reps will try and tell you, the Rhino is nowhere near "90% of an F-35". Not even close.

We are getting a certain percentage of F-35Cs, but that's about as far as we're going to go down the CV non-VSTOL path.

Listen to the Commandant. Read the Aviation Campaign plan. Believe it or not there was quite a bit of thought and planning put into it. Is it 100% set in stone? No. But I would be beyond shocked if we wound up too far from the stated path (i.e. anything significant in terms of Rhino/Growler acquisition by the USMC).
 

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
...Rhino's are GREAT for right now but if you cut the F-35, you're not going to be able to change your mind in 10 or 20 years......

In 10 or 20 years, Skynet will have the job.

I know the fighter mafia will hit the pilot light on their flamethrowers, but manned strike aviation is going to go away, probably sooner than most of us think. If we can bridge the next 10 years on a combination of Rhinos and AV-8B SLEP/cannibalizing RAF Harriers, then we'll still have the fiscal ability to jump to what I'd call 6th Gen fighters, i.e. unmanned. If we blow our wad again on the F-35, we're not going to have any aviation budget left to speak of.
 

Swanee

Cereal Killer
pilot
None
Contributor
I'd rather enter contested chinese airspace in an F/A-18F w/ a WSO in the backseat running a multi-mode AESA radar than fly myself in there hoping that all-aspect awareness system works as advertised while I'm trying to navigate, communicate, find the target, bomb it & get the hell out alive.

I don't buy it. Does a multi-mode AESA work against a stealth aircraft? If not then we are carrying a passenger to handle comms and give an extra set of eyes. I'll take the all aspect awareness system, and I'll bet my life that it and the stealth of my airplane works.

Sure, we all think it's cool to see that one hud tape of the Hornet that put the guns to the Raptor- but 99 times out of 100 it goes the other way, and the Hornet guys never even knew that the Raptor was in the ballpark.
The F-35 and the F-22 are changing the game the same way the F-14/F-15/F-16/F-18 did almost 40 years ago. Would you honestly tell me that you would rather take an F-4 with a WSO up against an F-15?

As a guy who may have to fly against those PAK FAs and J-20s I want EVERYTHING that I can get wrt technology. Even if that means I'm sitting in a room somewhere playing a video game. Last time I checked we don't have to send someone in Dress Blues to a house in Anytown, USA to inform a family that their loved one was killed when a Reaper gets shot down.
 
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