Quote:
Originally Posted by the_tyrant
Well in this case, wouldn't the f22's high speeds (I believe the only fighter with a supersonic cruise speed?) allow it to avoid enemy fighters better than the f4? especially considering that the f4 never had a crushing speed advantage over other fighters.
Or, would it be a good tactic to send other fighters with good short range performance to protect the f22?
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This. Personally i agree that the f-22 is a huge mistake. unless they can seriuosly scale down the price, its way, way, way, WAy too expensive to buy an F22. We could buy 55-60 abrams, a battle proven monster of a tank, or we can buy 1 unproven, overpriced, high tech machine that is 100% better than it needs to be. I dont trust anything that completely collapses under technology failure. Because technology fails. Technology fails often. and technology fails at the worst possible moments. The only thing we can, and should do with the F-22s we already have, is send one or two in formation with other aircraft like the F-15C, and youve got yourself one hell of an air superiority force.
What the USAF needs, i believe currently, is NOTHING. we have aircraft now being mothballed that are PERFECTLY GOOD, able, and incredibly cheap in comparison. In the future, we need to revert back to the teachings of the F-15, and build a maneuverable, low-cost, reliable airplane designed specifically for air to air combat. trying to do everything presents one of two problems (if not both). You either have no money left for the rest of your military, or you dont do anything particularly well and the plane gets swatted by planes designed for a specific role.