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Originally Posted by Zachstar
Remember that it is not just us. But other nations and the Brit Navy.
They will not be getting the advanced drone technology as fast as we can. So they need the F-35 for effective Defence for a few decades.
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Oh, we owe it to the Brits. That's why we should keep F-35. You're kidding, right? Last time they had real carriers they got rid of them _during the height of the Cold War_. If they want to rebuild their carrier force in a time of relatively no threat, let them pay for their own air wing R&D. Not my problem.
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Besides with the way things are going groups of F-35s may one day be able to be converted into drones for deep strike missions. I highly doubt they will be broken up for scrap for another 50 years.
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I agree with you here. But if we're going to go that route "eventually" we might as well be doing it NOW.
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Also remember that the plan is to eventually give some aircraft the ability to field lasers. That would make them great missile bait to get the enemy to reveal his SAM forces.
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Once we have DEW weapons capable of hard kills, so will the enemy shortly thereafter. And when the enemy has a weapon that travels at the speed of light and destroys that $70 million dollar airframe and the man inside it instantaneously, the man is undeniably a liability. And so is an airframe that expensive.
PD