On Jun 13, 9:17*am, Zombywoof wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:27:53 -0500, Dan wrote:
The F-15's are aging real badly, but the F-16's are fairing slightly
better. *What came as a real surprise to me was the dumping of the
F-117 (yes I know not a real fighter) so early in its operational
life.

I don't think you can really say the F-117 was "early" in its
operational life. It was a small fleet of subsonic jets that started
life in what, the 1970s and got used hard from 1989 on.

* Do you really think status quo will stay in effect another 10 years?
To not plan for the future is a tad silly, wouldn't you say?

Which status quo, us (the US) constantly in-fighting & bickering with
ourselves over the Guns or Butter dilemma? *Yeah I certainly see that
happening for at least the next 10 years, if not more!

True. Personally, I think that the F-22 buy is far too small,
considering all the capability (current and future) that the airframe
has. The F-35 is not going to come along soon enough to supplant the
F-22 and won't be as capable at air dominance and the tactical command-
and-control that the F-22 can do.

And if you think Russia and China are the only potential threats on
the horizon that the F-22 might be suitable against, you're naive and
blind.