PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Future Carrier (Including Costs)
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Old 28th Aug 2011, 12:49
  #3056 (permalink)  
LowObservable
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Far West Wessex
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NaB - Despite the Super Bug's limitations, it's still more modern than anything that the USAF has, except for the F-22 - whose current grounding is only one of its problems. It's getting good at FAC-A, CAS, NTISR and all the weird things you use fighters for these days. And it has two engines...

The Ultra Bug proposals (which improve signatures, speed/agility and range) should defer the day when IADS does start to close major regions off to the F/A-18 and EA-18 combo.

It seems that battle lines have been drawn up, though, and that the Bug push is coming from certain UK CV advocates with an RN leaning. I suspect from the two Portsmouth stories that they hope that the lower acquisition and operating costs for the Bug will ease the way for the second carrier to be activated.

Foghorn - Not sure I agree. If the F-35B is cancelled - and I suspect that some people hope that it will fall on its ar*e of its own accord, obviating an all-out fight with the Corps - the C's flank is exposed to an F/A-18 + UCAV pitch. Risky, but not completely crazy - and you'll have Boeing, Raytheon, GE, their flock of Congresscritters and the CV Bug mafia pushing it.

I'm sensing an unusual degree of twitch from the advocates of the Lockheed DeathStar these days. The long delays to the Defense Acquisition Board review don't suggest that anyone's yet made a lead-pipe-cinch case for going damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead with the program of record.
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