Because you can’t buy 4 F/A-18Es for one F-35C. An F/A-18E runs about $70million in FY2015 dollars. In FY2020 dollars, that will increase to about $75 million, not counting any upgrades Boeing might want to add to today’s model. So, today’s cost + inflation, which is something a LOT of people here forget, particularly…

The F-15SA runs about $130 million per copy, versus the $90 million F-35A.

Not really. The F-35 is already cleared for 14 A2A missiles, and they’re working on adding an additional pair of AIM-120’s for the internal bays.

See, the problem with your argument is that you’re talking out of your ass. You’re comparing flyaway cost of a F-15SA (the cost of the airframe) to the lifecycle cost of an F-35 (which is airframe + R&D + lifetime maintenance and pilot hours, + spares + fuel cost over 40 years). At best, that’s really fucking stupid.…

The Nazis killed 6 million Jews. Chattel slavery killed like 4 million Africans in and on the way to America.

That statement was so ridiculous my head almost exploded. Fortunately, there wasn’t any electricity around, because that WOULD have made my head explode. Because electricity makes heads explode, and scientists routinely shock precious artifacts to make them explode.

Huh? The behavior is shaped by the market itself. Computers get cheaper and more useful, therefor people buy more and more of them. Meat has been roughly flat in price over the last century, while incomes have soared, therefore people buy meat.

Came for this. Did not leave disappointed. Would do again.

So they’re like every other billionaire? Got it.

We are so cool. We live in motherfucking space. Octopi are fooled by child-safe lids.

If Americans really valued privacy they won’t keep handing it over to these corporations for free, or at least they value it much less than money. They may value privacy, but not enough to pay for it.

I didn’t make it and it’s a clip from a show that you apparently didn’t watch.

There’s a saying: go fast, go far, carry a lot when you get there. Pick 2. The F-35 is compromised in the same way ALL aircraft are compromised. Even if you don’t compromise on a single technical spec, you end up with a B-2 that costs 1/3 as much as an aircraft carrier. Per the Lightning, the STOVL engine isn’t even…

F-35 is still in LRIP. It wouldn’t really matter whether or not its software or weapons are ready because all F-35’s (minus about a dozen test aircraft) built from the beginning until 2018 will be used for the sole purpose of training so there will actually be enough qualified pilots to man all 2,500 F-35’s when…

The bay doors help create a cushion of air underneath the fuselage during vertical flight, much like the strakes added to Harrier II’s.

1) Yes, but you don’t really need them. Most of the test landings in the early phases of testing were done by looking out the window and watching the altimeter in the cockpit.

Why is a rich guy republican? Is there another party that advocates more for policies that benefit the rich?

You use “liberal” like an American would. Most places outside the 50 states use the term properly and apply them to right-leaning parties which espouse the rights of the individual, which is what the word means. Liberal rights = individual rights, which is why the term “liberal democracy” exists.

It’s called “quitting and getting a new job”. It works even better when you can get away with doing it on short notice. Hard pull off in the recession, sure, but it’s getting easier every day.