Leaderboard

I'm now an ORF and a concerned taxpayer and come at this with a concern about our nation's fiscal health and defense, I was a career airlifter/training IP, but was involved with quite a few CAF-centric exercises, with several being CW. So, I'm familiar with current challenges, but not nearly as knowledgeable as you aviators who fly our CAF aircraft. I know enough to be dangerous one might say. I would like to give those we put in harm's way the best equipment possible. So I need to defer to those who have the experience, such as Brabus (above comment). Here are a few questions/concerns I have, as a taxpayer and as someone who cares, directed at those of you who are far more "in the know". 1. I used to work with a gentleman who was an ATS pilot for many years. At the time I knew him, he was most likely the most experienced Aggressor the USAF had had. He called the F-22 revolutionary. Is the F-35 similar as a strike aircraft? 2. It seems to me we are making a huge investment for the sake of an LO VTOL/STOL design and losing aircraft performance for that design (from what I understand). What happens if/when a unique detection signature for the F-35 is found by our potential adversaries? I believe it is far cheaper for an adversary to find a counter to LO than for us to develop LO. I could be wrong. but again, we are investing huge sums of money into an airframe and powerplant that are not easily altered. It will be the backbone of our fighter fleet for how many years, thirty or forty? 3. Would it not be more prudent to build fewer F-35s and buy more F-16s (Block 60s), F-15Es, F-18s and augment the newer Gen 4 fighters with better ECM and lethal SEAD capabilities/tactics? Or buy the F-32 for the VTOL/STOL? (I knew the Boeing test pilot for the F-32. He was the first one to fly it. He was convinced Boeing had the better design. Of course, he had skin in the game). I believe it is not wise to put all of our eggs in one basket with the F-35 and with Lockheed. I believe it is in our best interests to have more than one company, just for the sake of business competition, building our fighter aircraft. We need to maintain the skilled workers from more than one company as part of our overall national strategic planning, IMO. 4. Will our military leaders be willing to put such a high priced aircraft at austere fields where base defense is not always guaranteed? Look at what happened with the AV-8's we lost in Afghanistan. If not, what is the point of having VTOL/STOL, FARP maybe? 5. I believe just as SAM capabilities and lethality have improved, so will/have SSM's. How willing will we be to risk our CV's? Will our CV's be required to be so far offshore as to where the F-35s will be outside their operational combat range? I understand there is air-to-air refueling, but what aircraft will provide that refueling? Right now, F-18's buddy refuel when nothing else is available (or so I was told). Even with the refueling, will they have the legs to get in and out? 6. Will our commanders be willing to risk such high value aircraft for low priority targets? What if there is high intensity barrage fire? How effective will the F-35 be at delivering PGMs from above the envelope against targets on the move? We lost more F-105's to AAA (including one my Dad was flying) than to SAMs. Yes, they were often flying below 20K and in the heart of the envelope, but how effective will we be if we always stay above the threat? My understanding is that our effectiveness against armored vehicles with PGMs in Allied Force was not that good (could be wrong). As a side story; on one particular mission in Vietnam, my Dad was flying as #2 when the weather over the Ho Chi Minh Trail suddenly cleared and revealed a huge convoy in a mountain pass. The convoy had no cover in which to hide and the FAC diverted all available aircraft to the target. My Dad's flight was the first on the scene. He and his flight lead put their bombs on the lead vehicles and 3 and 4 puts theirs on the trail end. The remaining vehicles couldn't move. They then low angle strafed until empty. They had a field day. Dad told me how the Vietnamese were firing down at them from their gun emplacements in the mountains. Will we be able to do that with F-35s? I understand we have far better and more accurate weapons than in Vietnam, but are we going to sacrifice high priced PGMs to kill low value trucks? Will we even have enough weapons in the air to destroy a convoy, like in this case? Another story; then Major, Jay Lindell (retired as a Major General) was awarded the Silver Star for saving a Special Ops unit under attack by executing a low angle strafe in an F-16 below the clouds with his wingman during Desert Storm. Would that happen with an F-35? 7. How smart is it to build such a pricey aircraft that is single engine? How smart is it to do that for carrier aircraft? How many F-16s have we lost due to engine failure? If I remember correctly, during the 80's we lost a lot of them due to fan blade failure on the P&W engines. I know in the past we and the Navy had a lot of single engine fighters, but we had a far larger fighter fleet and the planes were a lot less expensive. 8. Finally, I believe we will lose effectiveness/capability with the F-35, because our already risk averse commanders will be even more so when employing such an expensive aircraft. I fear those on the ground will not get the help in urgent situations, like the one involving Lindell. I could write/ask more, but I think this tome was enough. Again, I want you guys and our future aviators to have the best equipment possible to get the job done and come home safely. But, I have serious doubts about the F-35. But, like I wrote earlier, I will defer to you who are in the know. So any insights than can be shared are appreciated. (I understand that one cannot truly have an in depth discussion about capabilities vs. capital expenditures via the internet.) I appreciate the forum, Regard, RF.

Man, you are cynical! I'm sorry, but stop messing with people's minds. It's just not right. No CC worth his salt would hold this against someone. I'm not saying they're not out there, but for the sake of the young guys reading these blogs, either you are the most unfortunate son-of-a-gun to see all of these horrible things during your AF career (reference, um, nearly everything you post), or most CCs out there aren't nearly as evil as you think they are. For heaven's sake, Rusty...

General Condition, Just. Stop. Typing.

Chip has my seal of approval: 2 thumbs-up!!