No More New Fighter Aircraft Types?

Henry J Cobb wrote:
W. D. Allen Sr. wrote:
Are we getting to the point in history where the development of new
fighter plane models is going to cease?

Fnord!

I can't find the "United States military will only be able to afford
one airplane" quote.

Can somebody help me out here?

Norman Augustine, from _Augustine's Laws._ (And I think a version before
that in "The Widening Gyre" published in n_International Security_)

"In the year 2054, the entire defense budget will purchase just one
aircraft. This aircraft will have to be shared by the Air Force and Navy
3-1/2 days each per week except for leap year, when it will be made
available to the Marines for the extra day."

Of course, many of these so-called laws were actually intended to point out
the fallaciousness of simple extrapolation of statistical data.

--
Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when
wrong to be put right." - Senator Carl Schurz, 1872

"Thomas Schoene" wrote in message link.net...
"In the year 2054, the entire defense budget will purchase just one
aircraft. This aircraft will have to be shared by the Air Force and Navy
3-1/2 days each per week except for leap year, when it will be made
available to the Marines for the extra day."

Of course, many of these so-called laws were actually intended to point out
the fallaciousness of simple extrapolation of statistical data.


Unfortunately, operating costs are spiraling so out of control that
there is a sad ring of truth to this hyperbole (AvWeek Apr 5)...
Some potential candidates to be defense secretary in a John Kerry
administration are already waving off the opportunity. "Think of the
the nightmare any secretary is going to have," says a likely
contender. "We are looking at a defense budget this year that is
almost the same as Reagan had in 1985 in real purchasing power. But
look how much less we get. Reagan was buying 700,000 more people in
uniform, 912 combat aircraft compared with 100-150 this year, 900
tanks compared with none, 600 Bradley APCs compared with none, 27
ships compared with 11. It reflects how shockingly large operating
costs have become."