US Air Force, are we reaching too far?
After reading this article:
http://www.businessinsider.com/sandra-i-erwin-air-force-finding-budget-for-these-aircraft-2014-11Got me thinking, are we stretching beyond what our economy is capable of supporting?
Just one F-22 cost as much as 14 F-16�s, and I don�t know that ANYONE would call the F-16 a second rate fighter. It MIGHT be second rate next to a Russian stealth fighter (SU-PAK) if the stealth abilities of the Russian aircraft turn out to be good, but those are still in the prototype stages, they�re not even deployed. We have a massive edge in aircraft technology and even numbers if we�re talking true 4th generation aircraft.
I truly believe we need stealth aircraft, but do we need aircraft with this much of a technological edge, at the cost that we�re paying per aircraft?
The F-35 is not quite half the price of the F-22, which is still over 4x as expensive as the most costly 4th generation fighter, the F-15 Strike Eagle. The Strike Eagle would just punish the SU-27 in an air superiority role, and then turn around and drop bombs on ground targets afterwards.
Our fighters cost 4 � 8 times what the last generation fighters cost, yet we�re expected to deploy them in roughly the same numbers as the previous generation fighters. This in a severely beat up economy and at a time when our foreign entanglements are shrinking. I just don�t see how this is doable. At the prices we�re paying for these fighters, we�ll have to get 100 years of service out of these airframes for the investment to make sense.
As for China, the US Navy could strip China of all aircraft by itself. Or at least deny them the ability to leave their SAM protection.
I love the technological edge, but do we need THIS much of a technological edge at this point in time?
