Why the hell do we need $50 million stealth helicopters for recon in an age of disposable drones? Cancellation was so obvious even Don Rumsfeld could figure it out.

Actually, EVERYONE predicted the F-22 was more likely to be a light bomber than face air combat. That’s the entire reason they called it the F/A-22A for a couple years. That’s why they ended at 190 planes. The F-35 is a far, far better bomber, and despite protests the contrary, the USAF is mainly in the bombing…

The biggest mistake for a US general is ALWAYS the fact that the civilian leadership didn’t let them buy more shiny, fancy shit. Curtis LeMay went into retirement bitching and moaning over McNamara’s refusal to greenlight the B-70A Valkyrie, despite that plane being OBVIOUSLY obsolete before its first flight.

Nope. I don’t see it. So far, the only thing the F-22 has been used for is a A)show of force and B) a supersonic version of the F-117. We got along fine with only 1/3 as many Nighthawks as we now have Raptors.

Yeah...Private Manning was an idiot. Literally criminally stupid. But she wants to be a her...eh...what do we have to lose? Let her have it.

Ehh...TLAM is already bought in bulk and has been in production for decades. I think the Block IV is something like 1/2 to 1/3 of the original TLAM, adjusted for inflation. I don’t think there’s THAT much more to wring out of the process.

Because missile barges are too damn slow. The Maersk container ships (which would make shitty arsenal ships, but I get your general point) top out at 22kts, not 30, which means you either

Better keep New Jersey or Missouri in reserve in case Commander Apollo blows up Wisconsin for no reason.

Why do people think that posting the equivalent of “nuh-uh, YOUR GUY sucks” is funny, or even an acceptable thing to do as an adult?

If you’re going to reply at all:

Your appeals to authority still fall flat. Being “a contractor at Nellis” means nothing. The DoD often outsources landscaping, so the lawnmower is a contractor too. You don’t get a pass on your unsubstantiated arguments.

You should actually learn to know what you’re talking about before calling someone a liar(multiple times, are you so lazy you didn’t realize you responded to the same person multiple times?).

Prove it. Give me your numbers for unrefueled range on internal fuel. Because physics says I’m right.

Where’s your number then, jackass? UAE and DoD reported mine. In fact, once you included all support costs, the number was $250 million per plane.

What kind of half assed strawman is this? 75% of my post was about range.

Are you going to trot out the $30 million figure for the F-16 again? Because if someone can actually buy a 2015 edition Viper for that kind of money, the UAE is going to want a partial refund on the $150 million they paid for each of theirs.

Because the world isn’t run by internet commentors, who often manage to be less informed than even a congresscritter.

LRIP 8 F-35A with F135-GE-100 was $108M.

People keep reposting shit like this...I want to know where it came from. Because it’s fraudulent. There is nothing about the STOVL system that requires the F-35’s layout. The layout was dictated by A) Range B) Stealth C) Cost, in that order.

I wouldn’t say biased (the word is overused), but I would say myopic, and it affects their content. Like the bullshit F-35 vs F-16 story you reposted 2 months ago, which was a probe of whether or not it was safe to relax the flight envelope. Which, turns out, they could as it’s pretty much impossible to depart the jet…