First, an update in the DOD brass scraping plan: It is DOA. We, apparently did a good job in talking to our representatives and ammo remanufacturers did good in pointing out they’d have to stop shipments to police departments.
But now comes word that there are going to be some big defense cuts arriving very soon.
Two defense officials who were not authorized to speak publicly said Gates will announce up to a half-dozen major weapons cancellations later this month. Candidates include a new Navy destroyer, the Air Force’s F-22 fighter jet, and Army ground-combat vehicles, the officials said.
More cuts are planned for later this year after a review that could lead to reductions in programs such as aircraft carriers and nuclear arms, the officials said.
The Obamatons at the CrooksandLiars blog really need to really think about their enthusiasm for this idea, as evidenced in the comments section.
Who builds the aircraft, the ships, the vehicles and the electronics that go in all of them: Unionized workers.
$787 Billion to pork barrel projects that will only create a small number of jobs was rushed through Congress.
And to pay for it, hundreds of billions of dollars are going to be cut from defense cotnractors, increasing the unemployment rolls and making the country less safe.
As an Army grunt I’m very happy that the Air Force has really good planes.
The F15 and F16 are AWESOME weapons, and the F22 trumps them substantially, especially in terms of stealth.
As nations like Iran, China, Pakistan, and Russia continue to refine their Surface to Air Missile technologies it becomes harder to maintain air superiority.
Remember Korea, where SAM’s were more cost effective than aircraft. As sensors get smaller, electronics get cheaper, it becomes much easier to destroy a million dollar aircraft with an 80 thousand dollar missile.
And our ground forces rely on air superiority to the point where our battle plans rely less on Main Battle Tanks.
As Retired USAF, I’m here to tell you that it is the F-35 that should be scrapped if they have to scrap a program. It is a primary air-ground pounder to replace the F-16, but as weapons get smarter, you can use dumber planes to deliver them. Not so with interceptors, which have to be state-or-the-art or you lose air superiority battles.
The clincher on dumping the F-35 is the quantum leap in artillery accuracy. With two developments, GPS-guided shells and rocket-assisted shells, one battery can provide accurate bombardment services that used to take a squadron of F-16s. Now that smaller shells than 155mm are being put into these new classes, soon one highly mobile self-propelled howitzer such as the Swedes build (and we could license) will be able to do what a battery of towed arty tubes does now.
Think: one gun, firing up to 15 rounds per minute, ranging out to 95 miles with 5 meter accuracy.
Now why do we need that fancy attack fighter?
“Now why do we need that fancy attack fighter?”
Because someone has to keep the other guy from dropping a 500 pounder on top of that shiny howitzer. And it wouldn’t be half bad if that same plane could fly the 200 plus miles to the other guys base and bomb the living dickens out of his airfield.
(Former USAF F-16 man myself)
“The clincher on dumping the F-35 is the quantum leap in artillery accuracy.”
Mmmmkay. But in the current type of fight, the Army left most of its artillery at home in order to lighten itself. A lot of cannon-cockers have been retrained to be grunts, drive convoys, work MP duties, etc.
Artillery, and its ammo, is heavy and very expensive to haul around. It can’t range the entire theater as can an airplane, and get to wherever the fight is today. Look at Afghanistan — nothing but steep hills, going on forever. Artillery isn’t much use there except to maybe defend a few key bases. Too hard to move quickly. An airplane can go anywhere. And with GPS and other very precise guidance, and smaller bombs, the zoomies are providing very responsive cover for the grunts.
Maybe we could simply build more F-16s. The ones we have have been flying more than projected, and flying hours are eating into its life expectancy. Same with engines. Or we could make an investment against future technological surprise and buy into the next generation.
Another fairly good reason is that you cannot just go to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, or Shopko and just get a carrier, squadron of aircraft, tanks, artillery, troops, etc. in combat ready condition off the shelf and pay at the checkout.