Raptor vs Eagle

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:02:47 GMT, Neil Gould wrote:

Of course, in 15 years, when China (or a nuclear armed Iran) is
invading someone, I'll be probably be plenty glad we've got the
F/A-22.

Hmm. That sounds like an unlikely scenario for many reasons, not the least
of which is that in 15 years, China may be building those for us just as
they're building some of Boeing's fleet, now. Seriously, if we haven't
figured out how to peacefully resolve disputes with civilized nations by
then, the Raptor isn't likely to be of much help.

and China has no need to attack the US. China only has to wait, time is on
their side. they will (and already are) outnumber the US.

#m

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Martin Hotze wrote:
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:02:47 GMT, Neil Gould wrote:

and China has no need to attack the US. China only has to wait, time is on
their side. they will (and already are) outnumber the US.


The issue is Taiwan. In principle it's similar to East and West Germany
in that everyone would like reunification but on somewhat opposite
terms. The Taiwanese would prefer to wait for the Communists to
liberalize more, while the Communists see it as a matter of national
sovereignty.

The key here is time. If the PLA can land large numbers of troops on
Taiwan, they win. If they can't, the mainland government will go up in
flames. So an invasion needs to be a pretty sure thing which requires
high force superiority. The longer it takes to get across, the more US
reinforcements arrive and the harder the job gets.

Every F-22 we have forces the Chinese to buy/build 5-10 more
conventional fighters, which takes time and money. The longer it takes
for the PLA to achieve sufficient superiority, the more time everyone
has to find a political solution.

I can understan where resentment of the US comes from and it's not
entirely misplaced. But anyone who thinks a world where the current
Chinese leadership will produce a net increase in human rights is in
for a real nasty surprise.

-cwk.

Every F-22 we have forces the Chinese to buy/build 5-10 more
conventional fighters, which takes time and money. The longer it takes
for the PLA to achieve sufficient superiority, the more time everyone
has to find a political solution.

.... and the weaker one side gets w.r.t the other. So it's not about
finding a (political) solution, it's politics to enourage one solution
over another.

Jose
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