On Jan 23, 11:36*am, wrote:
On Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:00:12 -0600, John Szalay



wrote:
wrote :

I wonder about the Navy sometimes. Capabilities don't seem to matter
anymore. They retired the F-14 and still don't have anything that
would match an F-14 upgraded to todays standards.

The same with the A-6. The Navy still doesn't have one aircraft that
would match it's capabilities.

Nor do they have the money to maintain what they have..plus get new stuff.

The budget reality strikes hard..

going back some years, I remember living on C's for weeks in garrison
to help free money for the war in Nam.
But then they found enough money to fly all of us over there...the whole
damned division, a short time later....

It's goes back even further that that. In 1964 the USMC would run out
of money and serve *K (or was it C) rations in the mess hall. This was
before the Kaneohe Maraines were sent to Nam.

However, it seems the Navy has enough money to keep buying FA-18s.
Quantity, not quality. In the Navys defence it does make sense in a
way. The F-14 was designed and produced as a fleet defense fighter
with the capabilitu of shooting down multiple targets, aircraft and
cruise missiles, with the Phoenix missile. With the fall of the Soviet
Union they no longer needed that capability. *

AEGIS took lead in mass air attack defense. Bears and cruise missiles.
At least
until China gets wise and builds heavy bombers based inland where to
strike would
require a major esclatation of the conflict between nuclear powers.
Anything they put on/in the
water would be fair game.

JK

JK