JSF Price Tag Jumps to $135 Million

Ian B MacLure wrote:
Arved Sandstrom wrote in news:Hegpn.71557$PH1.6315
@edtnps82:

[snip]

What's really ludicrous is the thought of using any planes this costly
as bomb trucks for ground support. Can you see putting a gold-plated
aircraft like this at risk of getting shot down by cheapo AAA? Just to
deliver some bombs in support of grunts? If it ever did happen, the
ground units would be using every artillery tube they had shooting SEAD
to protect these precious planes...begging the question of why the
artillery wouldn't just pound the main target in the first place.

The days of streaking in at tree top level for a lay down attack
are probably over. JTACs can call in PGMs from 20000 ft with
pinpoint accuracy.

IBM

That may be true. But given that radar stealth doesn't mean radar
invisible, flying at 20,000+ feet doesn't exactly make you safe from
SAMs. And even if the F-35 is dropping some PGM glide-bomb from 50 nm
away he's still over some other patch of ground with SAMs and their radars.

And if that's all the plane is going to do is stand off at incredible
distances to launch ordnance, we can't have cheaper planes do the same
thing? Or just build a ****load of cruise missiles?

AHS