Don’t worry, the Air Force will spend the next decade adding more crap to the specs until the plane will barely be able to get off the runway, weighed down by the new specs and a cost closer to a billion per plane.

good assessment Doc9... I think your characterization of the newly built islands as “stationary” aircraft carriers is spot on... only difference is that the US won’t need a DF-21D to make a big hole in the ocean where one of China’s coral reef-based islands are found.

Interestingly, under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12-nautical mile limits cannot be set around man-made islands built on previously submerged reefs.

not even the UN can spin this one in favor of the Chinese...

So the Lassen sails close to two of China’s pseudo-islands and the Chinese have a shit fit.

this 60 Minutes piece was a perfect example of the Air Force’s leadership idea of close air support... have that B-1b or F-15c/d/e drop that laser/GPS guided bomb from 10,000 feet and head home before it hits the ground.

there’s a single A-10 parked, across the highway, on the concrete apron next to the building with the “Welcome to D-M” stenciled on it.

kind of surprised you didn’t see more wing rock in the Cub after the A-10 went by...

and are the anti-collision lights removable? The one on the left wing-tip looks like R2D2 riding along.

This is CAS.

yep, three or four bombs dropped from low earth orbit... its a stretch to call that CAS...

yeah, that argument - kill the enemy with a missile over the horizon - has been around since the F-4 debuted.

Well, you’d lose, because USAF has F-22s flying strike and ISR

The only way the F-35 debacle is going to change is that if the Senate and House Armed Services Committees are flooded with emails, letters, phone calls pointing out the obvious. Don’t forget McCain saved the A-10 this last go ‘round.

the USAF just sent a dozen A-10s to Turkey to fly against ISIS. I’d be willing to bet your next paycheck that the USAF would NEVER sent a dozen F-35s, or even one F-35, in the CAS role of an ally/customer.

It’s probably not too late to change your mind, since a F-35 that actually works is years away. Could I interest you in new F-16V?

“The F-16 lacks stealth...”

Interesting how much the Chinese Navy uniforms look like US Navy uniforms. Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery?

Shoot the swarm missiles in waves. Say, four or five waves of 25 missiles. Either the defending ship is going to run out of SAMs in its VLS or a leaker is going to get through and start the snowball rolling.

“Smoke on the water
A fire in the sky...”