F-35 Delayed Again

[iambecomelife]

I heard that it & the F-22 might be the last US fighter aircraft to have a human pilot - is this likely?

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

I heard that it & the F-22 might be the last US fighter aircraft to have a human pilot - is this likely?

Well, there's certainly nothing else new on the table at this moment. I think this is something we'll find out when the government goes shopping for the next fighter, and at this rate that might not be so soon. The longer it takes, the more likely it is.

That said, who knows if developments in things like anti-air lasers don't make fighter aircraft themselves suddenly obsolete and/or unneeded in the next couple of decades :hmm:

[PeriscopeDepth]

Originally Posted by CCIP

That said, who knows if developments in things like anti-air lasers don't make fighter aircraft themselves suddenly obsolete and/or unneeded in the next couple of decades :hmm:

I think this is what will make manned military aviation go away completely eventually. When hunting SAMs and directed energy weapons make "fighter pilot (can't touch me while I bomb from 25,000 feet)" no more protected than a foot soldier.

PD

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by PeriscopeDepth

I think this is what will make manned military aviation go away completely eventually. When hunting SAMs and directed energy weapons make "fighter pilot (can't touch me while I bomb from 25,000 feet)" no more protected than a foot soldier.

PD

Nah we will just have to lower the standards into the Air Force Academy. More Academy grads = Problem fixed.
:rotfl:

[PeriscopeDepth]

And today Canada has decided they don't need 80 F-35s.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssI...31405420080512

PD

[CaptHawkeye]

A lot of the problems with the F-35 just extend from the fact that no one knows what they want with it. Do we want a high speed bomber? An interceptor? A CAS jet? A next generation Harrier? Instead of chosing one, they're trying as hard as they can to make the F-35 do everything and it doesn't seem to be working too well. They would probably be better off conceding the "fighter" role to the F-22 and just making the F-35 more an F-15E equivalent high speed bomber.

[PeriscopeDepth]

Originally Posted by CaptHawkeye

A lot of the problems with the F-35 just extend from the fact that no one knows what they want with it. Do we want a high speed bomber? An interceptor? A CAS jet? A next generation Harrier? Instead of chosing one, they're trying as hard as they can to make the F-35 do everything and it doesn't seem to be working too well. They would probably be better off conceding the "fighter" role to the F-22 and just making the F-35 more an F-15E equivalent high speed bomber.

I disagree. The F-22 would make a better "deep penetrator" F-15E type replacement than the F-35. And it is already paid for and here.

PD

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

I heard that it & the F-22 might be the last US fighter aircraft to have a human pilot - is this likely?

Not a chance. What would the yuppy Air Force Academy grads do then. Work for a living?

As long as there are ring knockers in charge, there will always be manned planes. They may not do much but you have to keep the bag-hags happy

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Not a chance. What would the yuppy Air Force Academy grads do then. Work for a living?

As long as there are ring knockers in charge, there will always be manned planes. They may not do much but you have to keep the bag-hags happy

Nahh, the fighter jocks will eventually re-qualify to space jocks. The athmosphere is too dense to support their desire for faster and cooler-looking machines for much longer :p

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Nahh, the fighter jocks will eventually re-qualify to space jocks. The athmosphere is too dense to support their desire for faster and cooler-looking machines for much longer :p

This is true! Now where is my video??? Crud - must be at home. Must post next gen fighter stuff!

-S

[nikimcbee]

okay, I need to get up to par on all these new jets:
Su-30


F-35:


F-22



Su-47

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Nahh, the fighter jocks will eventually re-qualify to space jocks. The athmosphere is too dense to support their desire for faster and cooler-looking machines for much longer :p

From "The Tough Guide to the Known Galaxy":
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...ceguideS-Z.htm

SPACE FIGHTERS. Small, fast, highly maneuverable COMBAT SPACECRAFT. They have very limited range (never FTL), and no crew habitability to speak of; they can only operate for at most a few hours at a time. The crew is limited to one person, or occasionally two. At least among EARTH HUMANS and ALIENS WTH FOREHEAD RIDGES, these are usually males in their early twenties, known for their swagger, coolness, and fast moves on any attractive female of an INTERBREEDABLE species. (Who REALLY ALIENS use to crew their Space Fighters is not known.)
Because of their short range, Space Fighters usually must be carried into action by TRANSPORTER ships, though in some cases they will be carried piggyback on other, larger Combat Spacecraft. Their tactical value is unclear, since the are really just small spacecraft themselves. Since they don't operate in an essentially different medium, the way aircraft operate in a different medium from surface ships, there is no fundamental reason why they should be all that much faster. In naval terms they are more analogous to motor gunboats than to airplanes.
Mostly Space Fighters fight each other, which is logical enough in itself but doesn't explain why they are used in the first place. Only two other missions can be identified for them:
1) To destroy gargantuan BATTLE STATIONS, which are vulnerable only to attack by Space Fighters.
2) To give prominent roles to young males in their early twenties, so they can display their swagger, coolness, and fast moves on any attractive female of an Interbreedable species.

Of course I wonder how the USAF will react when someone tells them "There ain't no steath in space"

http://projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3w.html#nostealth

Originally Posted by Zachstar

And because they can be made smaller. They can start to be transported to the combat zone by transport aircraft. Such as C-130s being converted as carrier aircraft for a small squad of drones.

Parasite Fighters anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_fighter

[Jacky Fisher]

why am I not surprised.

Unless you have a darn good reason, don't build the bloody thing.

[Tchocky]

Well, the price per aircraft of the B-2 is a bit overstated. Huge R&D costs (it's a staggeringly amazng machine) were absorbed over 21 aircraft as opposed to 132 (or whatever).

[Jacky Fisher]

That's why you should stick with stuff that works, especially in an economy like ours right now.