View Full Version : USAF needs more F-22 Raptors or else!
Ronald Reagan
17th Feb 2009, 17:15
A very interesting read about the F-22 Raptor. I thought this would be an interesting talking point for this forum.
defence.professionals | defpro.com (http://www.defpro.com/news/details/5595/)
Been There...
17th Feb 2009, 17:39
Not that much of the facts required to discuss this paper could be discussed here!
Interesting arguments though.
Runaway Gun
17th Feb 2009, 18:46
or else they'll only have Eagles, Hornets, Falcons etc etc?
glad rag
17th Feb 2009, 19:09
Probably better off (re F-35 limitations) on one of the "naval" threads........:uhoh:
brickhistory
17th Feb 2009, 19:49
or else they'll only have Eagles, Hornets, Falcons etc etc?
Nothing like having 20-35 year old combat jets.
Do you want a fair fight against an adversary or air superiority?
I vote the latter.
Runaway Gun
18th Feb 2009, 11:37
Brickhistory, I understand completely.
Have you seen the age of the British lineup?
Pontius Navigator
18th Feb 2009, 17:22
Tiffy?
.
BombayDuck
19th Feb 2009, 10:25
brick - I have it on good authority that Raptor pilots prefer air dominance over superiority :ok:
But if you want Air Supremacy you need numbers as well......
brickhistory
19th Feb 2009, 12:27
Air superiority (my generation's 'buzzword') or air dominance.
Take your pick, I want the good guys to be on top.
Agree with ORAC, even during the Cold War when we all were trying to overcome the Soviets' numerical advantage with 'quality,' we still had a decent number of fighters concentrated in one theater.
183 total, so perhaps 120-130 on the front line, to cover the world is not nearly enough.
The F-22 is good, but it still hasn't master the two (or more) places at one time issue.
L J R
20th Feb 2009, 07:45
,,,,aaah, but Brick, If you cant see it, how do you know where it is, so it can actually be in a number of places at once, without actually being there or anywhere for that matter. All up to your psyops program, misinformation directorate, and clever use of callsigns, leaked deployment plans, and an occasional flypast.
With Supercruise, you can allocate one jet to the airshow circuit, and do 7 displays per day across the country, and the punters will presume every Reserve Unit has some.
Force Mulipliplyer was the Buzz word wasn't it?
Bob Viking
20th Feb 2009, 08:35
As much as I am a fan of good reasons to buy more jets, there are an awful lot of assumptions made in the article.
It pretty much sounds like WW3 with the whole of Asia against the USA! I appreciate that there may well be that many capable fighters out there but the chance of the US standing alone against a united force of everyone else are probably reasonably slim! We're also making alot of assumptions about training levels, serviceability....
The list could go on. It sounds like a great simulation for a Command and Conquer type computer game but maybe not quite what we can expect in the 2015-2020 period!
I hope!
BV:eek: