The 160th had a brand-new (“doesn’t even have sandwich stains on the seats”) MH-60M at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual convention in Nashville about 2-3 months back and they were letting anyone check out the cabin and cockpit. They even had a monitor hooked up to the FLIR so you could see what it saw.

…

Barksdale AFB, May 1992. The Russian planes were visting as part of an exchange program proposed by then-Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill A. McPeak. March 1992, two B-52s, a KC-10 and their crews visited Dyagilevo AB, Russia

He’s talking about the -15s and -16s.

F-16s and F-15Es have been performing that mission since the first Gulf War and the F-35A will pick it up as it gets fielded to active units. We currently have more A-10s (253 according to this chart) than we have Air-Superiority-Only F-15Cs (197).

the assembly line could be ramped up

losing ground forces because the costs of losing such an aircraft, too high to risk.

But the A-10 never has had support of the upper fast mover crowd

Fraction of the price?

Gap filler?
The F-15SE isn’t in production. It doesn’t have the fuel or weapons capacity of the F-15E (or SA for that matter). And simply canting the fins outward doesn’t give it LO. It’s still got the same boxy intakes, the same fuselage design, the same disco-ball airframe.
F-35A is already in production, with IOC…

Reminds me of Daredevil’s Netflix costume, especially around the shoulders.

As I already said - Someone has to put out some actual facts. If you want to hear only what you want to hear, that’s your circus, not mine.

Oh, you’re talking about something like an armed RQ-8.

Not really, and here’s two reasons why:

Yeah, I’d be worried about how those old engines could have handled the hot/high conditions of Afghanistan.

But the A-29B? I loved that idea. Hellfire, shmellfire. Brimstone is the shit. Brits are using them on their Apaches and Tornados, they’re putting them on the Typhoon. I think they’ve just been cleared for Reaper…

So what you’re saying that he has more commentary value because Gawker hired him to generate clicks?

Someone has to put out some actual facts. I have as much right to be here as you do, so if you can’t stand my comments, go someplace else.

Point by point...

We have been mothballing them and pulling parts from the old ones to keep the others flying. We now have more A-10s than we have F-15s. But at some point, due to economics of scale of the logistics chain, maintenance and training, you have to retire an entire fleet.

These aircraft were completed 30+…

Gen 4 fighters are at least aerodynamically stable...

THE AIRFRAME IS CRACKED. THE STRUCTURE HAS PHYSICALLY BROKEN. It ain’t like patching a goddamn tire.

I’m referring to using older airframes and upgrading them.