USAF Block 50/52s do not have the plumbing and frame support for CFTs. The newer block 50/52+ do. Our last F-16s arrived in 2004 purchased in 2001. CFT flight testing didn’t start until 2001.
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nigel-t
Is it odd that I always feel a bit sad that the HMS Iron Duke is a mere frigate? Her predecessor was the 29,000 ton battleship that was flagship at the Battle of Jutland.
My point is in 1922 Aircraft Carriers were completely unproven technology. Following you and Tyler we would not have spent money on the USS Lexington and USS Saratoga which cost $45M to complete as carriers because it was “unproven”. Certainly we would not have built the USS Ranger...which turned out to be a dog.
“But an aircraft carrier? The outlay of cash for such a huge project is such that you’d hope the tech is proven up before you pay for it.”
And yet the F-35 has a decent safety record. It's not luck.
I wrote A-4 when it was the A-7. Amusingly they disqualified the F-4 and A-7 because they were primarily Navy designed and then procured by others but included JSTARS as part of their cost model.
The EOD robots that didn’t work took care of decommissioning themselves...
Even handed about the F-35? Lol...did you even read the RAND report you cited?
The RAND study is deeply flawed.
It’s not an AUG but a SIG SG 550. Steyr is a Austrian maker. I guess SIG is sorta German now (and now Swiss Arms AG) but still...
No it can’t. Throw F-16s into a combat environment with double digit SAMs and there will be more takeoffs than landings.
Given that the Marines have the UH-1, MV-22 and CH-53s they don’t have a homogeneous air transport force. They diversify platforms by having different mission areas (light, medium and heavy lift).
Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare (EMW) and Ship To Objective Maneuver (STOM) was the doctrinal big deal for the USMC. The S-92s weren’t going to nearly as capable in allowing the marines to do deep insertion and interdiction with ground forces as the MV-22.
They may have shiny new ships but People’s Liberation Army Navy is still a dumb name for a navy.
Why is Taiwan better off as part of China? Aside from the fact it wouldn’t have to worry about invasion.
The MV-22 flies 100 knots faster and flies farther. 3 S-92s does not give you the same mission capability and probably takes more deck space. A cheaper aircraft that can’t do some missions isn't a bargain.
The f-35 also provides survivability against double digit SAMs which the teen series fighters are extremely vulnerable.
Rather than seek the same opinion over and over, perhaps seeking an alternate viewpoint would be more useful to you.
The guy was still doing his job a week before his son was died in a cancer center.
Nobody over there that we would bomb has an intact IADS with double digit SAMs backed by decent 4th gen fighters. A 4th gen strike on Iran would likely result in fewer aircraft landing in the evening than took off that morning. Especially after Russia delivers some S-400s.