You left out the part about Russian made IADS. For example, Iran is taking delivery of the S300 system. Right now, there are only two aircraft that can operate in that environment, the F-22 and B-2, and we don’t have enough of either to go around hunting all those mobile launchers.

F-22’s primary mission may be A2A,…

USAF leadership “went sour” on the F-22 because Gates set a very clear example of firing anyone who disagreed with him publicly, and not just the USAF.

Behind the scenes, everyone in the AF was on board with 381 Raptors (and the situation in this article is exactly why), but when Gates started asking for resignations,…

This is Boeing’s investment, not the DoD’s. Boeing doesn’t have any 5th gen fighter orders. Super Hornet production will end soon. They’re just trying to drum up business to keep the production line open a little longer. If Saudi Arabia (which has an increased missile payload on their new F-15SAs) or South Korea or…

No American fighter aircraft has ever been shot down by a fighter in Russian service. However, plenty of American fighters have been shot down by aircraft made in Russia.

There was no shortage of air defenses put up by the Iraqis in 1991, or the Bosnians in 1999, and we used cruise missiles in both cases.

As for the…

March-April 1999, (Operation Allied Force), USAF F-15s and F-16s shoot down shoot five Bosnian fighters, mostly MiG-29s

March-April 1999, (Operation Allied Force), USAF F-15s and F-16s shoot down shoot five Bosnian fighters, mostly MiG-29s

They’re in Estonia at the moment.

I don’t know if the F-35 can do this or not, or if it’s limited to only the inboard pylons (which would carry external tanks). If the airbattle space and threat conditions are such that I can launch sorties without the need for LO (ie - a permissive environment such as Afghanistan, or peacetime domestic airspace…

TheAviationist reported this story yesterday with photos.
Second Aviationist article from yesterday.

Keep an eye on af.mil, they’ll probably post higher res pix soon.

Any external pods would incur a drag penalty, reducing range/endurance and hindering agility.

They’ve been doing that for years now. Increases the duration on station with the added benefit of intentionally screwing up the plane’s RCS for prying eyes.

Short answer: A lot.

F-22s, when delivered to the squadrons, they were delivered with a “Bill of Sale” of sorts that listed the final cost of that aircraft.

Early production F-22s ran an average of $130M per copy. By the time the last ones were picked up from the factory, the price per Raptor was down to $101M per…

It was flown by a pilot unfamiliar with handling characteristics of FBW aircraft, specifically that particular type, who flew it into an area of its performance envelope that caused a sluggish recovery. Happens all the time to F-15 pilots transitioning to the F-22; but less so with F-16 pilots making that same…

Yup - having contractors everywhere - that’ll get worse before it gets better.

the fiscally responsible veteran (Army) in me thinks it’s a huge fucking waste of money

If it does the mission who cares how old it is.

Because the Coast Guard can’t take the budget hit.

MQ-1s operate on an unencrypted datalink. And continuing to operate them takes away bandwidth from other platforms such as the MQ-9.

The Navy or Marine Corps could re purpose the MQ-1s to operate from supercarriers and amphibious assault flattops, which would offer a persistent information surveillance and reconnaissance platform with long endurance at low cost.