USAF FY2020 Budget [Archive]

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RAFEngO74to09

12th Mar 2019, 16:48

RAFEngO74to09

12th Mar 2019, 17:00

F-15X now expected to be bought over multiple years ahead to recapitalize F-15C/D fleet which now has major structural issues. More here:
F-15X Will Come In Two Variants, And No, It Won't Cost $100M Per Copy - The Drive (http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26305/f-15x-will-come-in-two-variants-and-no-it-wont-cost-100m-per-copy)

unmanned_droid

12th Mar 2019, 17:11

NGAD must have nearly enough for a demonstrator...

Fonsini

14th Mar 2019, 01:12

Procuring new variants of a fighter that last rolled off the production line for USAF 33 years ago has to be a real admission of defeat in the procurement space. Inevitably people will lament that if we had to buy a legacy fighter why oh why couldn’t it be an upgraded F-22, ignoring the impossibility of that scenario of course.

West Coast

14th Mar 2019, 05:06

Probably the realization that you don't need a F22 for every mission.

Rhino power

14th Mar 2019, 16:37

Probably the realization that you don't need a F22 for every mission.

Or maybe you haven't got enough F-22s in the first place... :}

-RP

GlobalNav

14th Mar 2019, 21:39

Or maybe you haven't got enough F-22s in the first place... :}

-RP

Exactly. And someone made sure there would be no more F-22s by destroying the tooling. Should do that with F-15.

Rhino power

15th Mar 2019, 00:18

And someone made sure there would be no more F-22s by destroying the tooling...

I'm 99.9% sure the tooling and jigs for the F-22 were never destroyed, I'm sure I read somewhere they were stored, very securely, on an Army base?

-RP

West Coast

15th Mar 2019, 04:23

Exactly. And someone made sure there would be no more F-22s by destroying the tooling. Should do that with F-15.

Can't undo that decision, can only move forward, this seems like a good path.

Evalu8ter

15th Mar 2019, 11:46

The issue with F-22 isn't the jigs or tooling, it's the avionics and mission systems. They are all based on obsolete 1980s technologies and architectures which are difficult to acquire and support. The F-15 architecture has moved with the times for export customers so is, essentially, "off the peg". You could consider retrofitting F-35 avionics to the F-22 airframe but, to be honest, it's probably cheaper to go straight to the Gen 6 F-X concept and buy updated F-15s to increase combat mass to fill the gap in the interim….which, I guess, is the USAF's opinion too….

Misformonkey

16th Mar 2019, 10:34

I'm 99.9% sure the tooling and jigs for the F-22 were never destroyed, I'm sure I read somewhere they were stored, very securely, on an Army base?

-RP
I think you’re right with the F-22 jigs. I think it was the SR-71 Programme where they destroyed tools and jigs.

West Coast

16th Mar 2019, 16:49

Exactly. And someone made sure there would be no more F-22s by destroying the tooling. Should do that with F-15.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a19056/sorry-the-f-22-production-line-is-dead/

There are a few other articles as well that refute your assertion. If this and the other articles are to be believed, the jigs tooling and whatever else is needed is in storage at the Sierra Army Depot in California.

GlobalNav

16th Mar 2019, 22:25

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a19056/sorry-the-f-22-production-line-is-dead/

There are a few other articles as well that refute your assertion. If this and the other articles are to be believed, the jigs tooling and whatever else is needed is in storage at the Sierra Army Depot in California.

I stand corrected, inspite of earlier stories in the media. Why did I believe them? Duh

West Coast

16th Mar 2019, 23:51

Makes me wonder what other aircraft tooling is still tucked away at remote bases.

chopper2004

18th Mar 2019, 13:37

$165.6B - up $10B on FY2019.

48 x F-35A - $4.9B
8 x F-15EX - $1.1B
12 x KC-46A
8 x MC-130J
12 x MQ-9 Reaper
1 x EC-37B Compass Call
B-21 Program - $3B
F-35 Block 4 Modernization Program - $794M
Next Generation Air Dominance Program - including Gen 6 fighter - $1B (up from $430M in FY2019)
T-X Trainer R&D - $348.5M
Replacement Presidential Aircraft development - $576M

https://www.defensenews.com/smr/federal-budget/2019/03/12/us-air-forces-2020-budget-hones-in-on-readiness-emerging-tech/

Looking for (lest its written lol in invisible ink) for any reactivation of 117 unit :D

Cheers

https://airforcesmonthly.keypublishing.com/2019/03/18/dark-knights-a-new-f-117-squadron/?fbclid=IwAR1S4TmLUN-pmo0d4Tcqq18Cf-25BxX46bzIJ2uvSAGTAPppk-e9N_Ker4k