On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 18:06:01 -0500, "Paul F Austin"
wrote:

The F-22 is certainly the
fastest airplane in the world with anything more than a tank full of cannon
ammunition and possibly a pair of wing-tip missiles.

Surprising to encounter such a statement from someone who usually is
fact based. Do we forget the missile bays?

If the point is "air dominance fighter" and the speeds are set with "a
tank full of cannon ammunition" and a half dozen IR and radar guided
missiles, oriented by a data-sharing system of three-dimensional
sensor integration, what more do you seek?

I'm beginning to feel like I'm in the Republican Party in which, if
the candidate is not ideologically pure, we must self-destruct to show
the total commitment to the cause.

Gimme a break. The F-22 is an aircraft in development. It is flying
and it is proving. It competes with other systems. It is more or less
expensive, depending upon the accounting criteria used to measure unit
cost. We've done well with F-15 over thirty years and we've done well
with Viper (although the numbers aren't quite as compelling.) If we
compare with what the "woulda, shoulda, coulda" numbers for the Soviet
wunderkind are we generally come out on top.

If we improve US indigent health care at the sacrifice of next-gen
tactical aircraft, will we be better off? I'm betting on the
techno-iron as the better spending choice.