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Wikipedia says that the OtherOS had access to 6 of the 7 cell cores (SPEs), and the main processor (PPE). The cell was designed for parallel tasks, and is much better at it than a standard processor. Furthermore, the RSX uses a traditional fixed-function architecture (hardware is dedicated to vertex-shaders and pixel shaders), unlike newer GPGPUs that have a bunch of ALUs that can be used for any task. This makes it much harder to write general computation code. Also, the bandwidth to the RSX is much less than to the SPEs, which further limits how much data you can crunch with it.

I know the folding@home programmers decided that it wasn't worth the time and effort to do number crunching on the RSX (they are a native application not running in OtherOS, so they had full access to the machine), as they expected the increase in performance to be minimal.

It is possible that they either bought a dev-kit and wrote native applications (and Sony decided to sign their code), or they Sony gave them access to master keys so they can do whatever they want, but it isn't necessary.

Ah, nevermind, I found an Air Force article that quotes the guy who built the cluster that confirms that they are using stock firmware/linux:

"The server runs on a Linux operating system that isn't available on the newer firmware of current systems," said Mr. Barnell. "We have to abide by the end-user license agreement like everyone else, so we're only able to use the systems as we get them."

If a Condor PS3 breaks it can't be sent in for repairs because it comes back with system updates that are unable to run Linux. After an update, it's useless in the Condor cluster.

"I have a few spares," he said. "But as they break, we'll end up removing consoles from the cluster."

Spang does HARM missions.

http://www.spangdahlem.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=7911&page=1

The most impressive thing to me is the creation of new inlets, and the loss of sand. I wonder how long (if ever) before the sand bars will reform.

BTW, they landed a plane at Sendai Airport. I imagine it will be a long time before normal operations are established there though. AFAIK, those military transports can take off and land on anything that's flat and not too muddy.

Tell you what, YOU tell the US Air Force that they shouldn't use the word Howitzer in their press releases

The AC-130U has a 25 mm Gatling gun that is able to fire 1,800 rounds per minute, and, along with the AC-130H, carries a rapid fire 40 mm Bofors cannon and a 105 mm Howitzer. The canons are located on the left side of the aircraft.

and we'll see what they say.

Sure, they call it a cannon now, but they do refer to it as a Howitzer. I wasn't suggesting the laser would be used as a mortar, merely that it could be used in a similar way as the Howitzer they've already mounted in an aircraft.

that was the YF-2, a weaponized version of the SR-71. Really, it was a fighter/interceptor, not a bomber.

I used to have a conceptual art poster of it from Lockheed.

What is aYF2? Do you mean the SR-71 forerunner, YF-12A ? The SR was never weapon-ized. It did, however, carry an . unmanned reconnaissance vehicle.
The initial flight dynamics testing was performed in the 10 x 10 SWTat NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio back in the mid 50's. One note that is not really explained is that it has no top end, only operational limits. This is still the fastest non-orbital craft ever. It will continue to increase its speed to engine failure.

Your concerns are justified, but not to the extent you might think.

Also, the F-22 does not represent a "marginal technological advantage", it really is revolutionary. Game changing.

During operational testing and wargames (Northern Edge and Red Flag, that I'm aware of, but possibly others) they'd pit mixed forces of F-22s and F-15s or F-16s against conventional forces without F-22s.

Now, we've all seen the ridiculous kill rations of the F-22. 108:0 in Northern Edge, but what's slightly less well known is this:

These mixed packages of Raptors and Conventional aircraft will typically begin an engagement with the Raptors engaging the aggressor aircraft. The raptors rack up lots of kills, the aggressors rarely score one against the raptors.

But eventually, the inferior numbers of the Raptors means that they'll expend their stores. Out of missiles, they don't just turn and go home, they continue to provide support to their side's conventional fighters. The result is a very lopsided kill ratio. Even when the Raptors don't fire a shot, just having them near by, stealthily providing additional radar data, and pseudo-AWACS support has turned out to be far more helpful than even the most optimistic analysts had predicted.

The results? During that same Northen Edge exercise where the Raptors themselves scored 108 kills against no loss, the team that the Raptors were on had a kill ratio of 241:2.

Here's some more Detail on the Northern Edge engagement:
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123022371

At least in wargames. Obviously we have no idea if it will pan out in a shooting war.

So while the cuts to the Raptor program may seem dire, they're not AS bad as they may seem. The Raptor is even useful in limited numbers in conjunction with conventional warplanes.

Another great data point is this great quote form an Aggressor Pilot at Red Flag from a Popular Mechanics story:

"My F-16 is still a formidable weapons system in its own right. But it is not even in the same league as an F-22," Brenton says. "Technology keeps the F-22 a virtually undetectable and untouchable regime. It is fair to say that unless an F-22 driver makes a mistake, or has a critical system failure, I will always lose a fight against him. That is a good thing. As a nation, we want it this way. We also want him to be able to handle two, six or eight of us completely on his own."

Unlike typical U.S. military pilots, the Red Flag and Top Gun instructors do basically nothing but fly (simulated) combat sorties day in and day out. They're among the best of the best when they start the job, and the nature of the job makes them better. If one of them says he can't kill a Raptor in an F-16 unless something exceptional happens, I believe him.

Of course, as you pointed out, there is a threshold in numbers where you have too few to make a difference, or the numbers you do have become over-taxed, but it seems that between the obscene kill ratio of the Raptor, and it's "multiplying factor" for conventional forces that this it's very hard to say how low a number would be ineffective.

But who would bug... a bathroom?

Who would prosecute a pro-western guy in a pro-western country?

I fear as if his own email points to a rather trivial explanation, that afflicts some people in the field of exact sciences...

906a. ART. 106a. ESPIONAGE
(A) (1) Any person subject to this chapter who, with intent or reason to believe that it is to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, communicates, delivers, or transmits, or attempts to communicate, deliver, or transmit, to any entity described in paragraph (2), either directly or indirectly, any thing described in paragraph (3) shall be punished as a court-martial may direct, except that if the accused is found guilty of an offense that directly concerns (A) nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large scale attack, (B) war plans, (C) communications intelligence or cryptographic information, or (D) any other major weapons system or major element of defense strategy, the accused shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court- martial may direct.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj2.htm#906.%20ART.%20106.%20SPIES
What exactly is "communications intelligence"? I don't know, but this is likely the article of the UCMJ he'll be charged with.

You mention Private Manning. Citation needed.

Where have his rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice been violated? He hasn't been tried yet, so where, precisely, has his right to a fair trial been violated?

Have some UCMJ:

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj.htm

Not bad compared to:
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/afi36-2903.pdf

If it's that important, why not just have uniforms?

In a way, they do have uniforms. The uniform is the method of dress spelled out in the dress code.Their uniform just has more variation allowed.

But what would uniforms save? You still need to tell people how to wear them. The US Air Force spends about 160 pages (annoying PDF) telling people how to wear theirs.

http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/library/airforcepersonnelstatistics.asp

Average age of enlisted Airmen is 29, officers are 35

Average age of the United States military is 28, Army and those would be your soldiers is 29 and the Marines are younger, 25.

Don't forget though, the craft is (supposedly) unmanned.

Citation: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=16639

Other than Onions, Valdosta is best known for their university and air patch. Neither the university or air base are all that large. It isn't a region known for forward thinking.

Do they also plan to sue the U.S. Air Force?

And Article 15 is Commander's Non-Judicial Punishment, which amounts to "We drop the charges if you accept your commander's non-sentence sentence." Not quite a plea bargain, but a similar concept.

Eric Steven Raymond in his how to be a hacker is a good start, some say a Real Programmer Can Write in Any Language.

Not quite.

http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=108

GPS is quite important, gives very notably better accuracy than pure inertial (for which the starting point are good gps data from the aircraft)

Did you read the link you posted?

"All pilots operating within and near this area including the shoreline should exercise extreme caution due to the numerous low level operations associated with the deepwater horizon/mc-252 incident 3000 feet and below.

Aircraft involved in these operations may make sudden changes in direction, speed, and altitude. For additional information, participating aircraft altitude assignments and awareness, all pilots are recommended to review the following web site dedicated to the aviation cleanup efforts at: https://1afnorth.region1.ang.af.mil/deepwater_spill/default.Aspx

With the exception of aircraft conducting aerial chemical dispersing operations;no fixed wing aircraft are authorized below 1000 feet above the surface unless for landing and takeoff"

The FAA rules are to keep collisions from happening.

And really? Amphetamine is better than caffeine? I mean, I'm all for legalization of marijuana, but if you're going to try and defend crystal meth as a safe alternative to coffee, please take your support some place else.

Not all amphetamines are the same as Meth. Clearly, the stimulants we give pilots or children must be okie-dokie.

I can't decide if I'm being single or double sarcastic... {taps sarcasm-meter}

Agreed. The Intrepid is a great museum, and one of my favorite places in the world. But it's very specifically a museum of durable things. Military aircraft and supersonic transports that are designed for all-weather.

The Space Shuttle is the very definition of a Hangar Queen. It takes tens of thousands of man hours of re-fitting for each flight. The tiles are delicate, and it's not really designed to be exposed to the elements long term. It might be able to be, but given it's track record, do we really want to risk it when there are only three remaining in existence?

Yes, they probably *could* get it into the hangar bay of the Intrepid, but given the shuttle's size, they may actually have to dismantle the ship to do so.

The Essex Class carrier has a deck elevator with dimensions of 60 ft x 34 ft. It's maximum load weight was 40,000 Lbs. The shuttle orbiter by comparison is 122.17 ft by 78.06 ft and weighs 151,205 lb.

In other words, the orbiter weighs in (empty) at triple the capacity of the Intrepid's elevators. Even if they didn't use the elevators and used some kind of crane instead, it's still 78.06 ft on it's smaller dimension vs the deck opening's larger dimension which is 60 ft.

They'd have to dismantle either the Intrepid or the orbiter to get it inside. Even if they did, the hangar deck is hardly climate controlled to begin with...

To use the Intrepid site, they'd either have to dismantle part of the ship to get it inside, then extensively retrofit it to provide a climate controlled environment, or they'd have to build a new facility on the Pier along side Intrepid just to house the Shuttle. The Intrepid gets most of it's operating budget from admissions, memberships, and the occasional grant. I don't think it's going to go away tomorrow, but I do get the distinct impression that compared to the Smithsonian, or the Kennedy Space Center (both government funded), it's hanging on my the margins.

The 500 year rule makes sense to me. These are invaluable pieces of human history. The Apollo Command Modules are in the same class. The National Air And Space Museum in D.C. makes sense as a location for one. They already have the Columbia module from Apollo 11, which I assume we would want to maintain to the same standards. However, they also already have the orbiter prototype Enterprise, so it seems to make more sense to spread the three remaining orbiters to allow as many people as possible to have access to them as possible. Perhaps one one at Kennedy Space Center, and one in Houston, and one on the West Coast somewhere?

New York City would allow millions of people to have access. And Intrepid is the premier aerospace site in the city. But it's just not equipped or funded for something like this.

The Aerospace museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base may also be appropriate, but it has a distinct military aerospace bias.

Likewise Vandenberg Air Force Base in California could be a great site, as it was almost a second launch site for the Shuttle. Having an orbiter wind up there permanently could be very apropos. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any museum or public exhibit at Vandenberg, which is a shame. Edwards Air Force Base (Secondary shuttle landing site) and White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico could be appropriate for similar reasons. But again, they're both military bases, and not terribl

The National Museum of the USAF, located in Dayton, OH, seems like just as good of a choice.

It's about the same size (both claim to be about 1,000,000 square feet) as the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. And there's a request for petitioners (and money for another 200,000 square feet to house a shuttle) here.

The shuttle, like other Air Force projects, belongs in a building next to the SR-71, F117A, an Apollo command module, a Mercury, a Gemini, and other fun stuff of that ilk. Placing it next to a John Deere is demeaning to both exhibits. :)

Also: Admission to the Air Force museum is free, whereas the Chicago museum wants your money before they let you in. And traffic and parking is so much more pleasant in Dayton than Chicago...

The National Museum of the USAF, located in Dayton, OH, seems like just as good of a choice.

It's about the same size (both claim to be about 1,000,000 square feet) as the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. And there's a request for petitioners (and money for another 200,000 square feet to house a shuttle) here.

The shuttle, like other Air Force projects, belongs in a building next to the SR-71, F117A, an Apollo command module, a Mercury, a Gemini, and other fun stuff of that ilk. Placing it next to a John Deere is demeaning to both exhibits. :)

Also: Admission to the Air Force museum is free, whereas the Chicago museum wants your money before they let you in. And traffic and parking is so much more pleasant in Dayton than Chicago...

Most of those 744 aircraft are gone. The entire active inventory of B-52 airframes is 94 (see bottom of "General Characteristics" list, last line), all "H" models.

The inactive ones are extremely inactive, generally in salvageable or restorable condition in The Boneyard. I suppose if someone has to do something to reduce an on-paper count of potentially active bombers, you would saw a bunch of the boneyard birds in pieces, like they did there for START I reductions. (Yes, when doing an arms reduction, you start with the inactive but somewhat intact ones. Kinda seems counterintuitive, since you'll probably wind up with as many active weapons as you started with, but as a paper exercise it's righteous.)

We promise we won't start nuclear programs. We're in the EU!

Now can you please take your soldiers out of Azores? Thank you!

IMO there should be no health insurance companies. Get rid of them and have the government pay for your health care, and our costs (the highest in the world) will drop to where more civilized countries' costs are

IMO you are a free individual and are capable of moving to a "more civilezed country." So plesae, start packing your bags instead of trying to steal from me.

Your higher taxes will more than be made up by not having to pay insurance premiums.

Tell that to the healthy people who currently CHOOSE NOT TO HAVE INSURANCE.

We have the most expensive health care in the world, but by no metric do we have the best care.

And we have people traveling from Canada, Russia, and Europe to receive care here why again? My wife works in medical billing, there's a significant amount of people CHOOSING TO COME HERE for care.

I blame private insurance.

When the top diseases in the country ARE PREVENTABLE if life styles are changed, why do you blame insurance?

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005110.html
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123103015

I had hopes for Obama, but his version of health care "reform" seems to me nothing but a gift to the insurance companies.

Seems more like lost freedoms to me.

Reported for this. People have actually been convicted in the UK for downloading that

How about this little investigation into the subject by the EU Parliment?

It happens quite a bit, apparently, if you read into the middle or so of the document.

I can only imagine that if someone tries to predict a battle they are going to be left holding their graph at the end of the battle saying what the hell just happened?

At the end of any action there is a review of what the hell happened.

The statistics quoted are actually just for the airforce, which obviously is the most educated and well-off of the armed forces.

Truth

Mandatory target practice is one thing, but virtual instruction that actually plays no part in gameplay is a bit idiotic.

Just about every powerful member of the Democrat party, to be honest.

(Yes, I realize that I accidentally included an apostrophe where I should not have if I meant multiple politicians. It was a typo, move on.)

But if you want specific examples, former presidential candidate John Kerry is an excellent one. In 2008 he infamously said to a group of college kids:

“You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

HERE is the video of that one.

Another excellent example is John Murtha's recent slander of the Marines, wherein he accused marines of murdering civilians in an incident at Haditha, Iraq. (Incidentally, all of the Marines involved have been acquitted or had the charges summarily dropped.) John Murtha is now being sued by the Marines and their families for slander.

Those are just TWO High profile examples. Unless you start thinking "Oh, it's just a couple of stupid loudmouths" Understand that this attitude runs from top to bottom of the far left, which has taken control of the Democrat party. We have had attacks on off-duty soldiers, vandalism against recruiting stations, and many many not-so-subtle jabs against military members as "stupid" "dumb" "thugs" "killers" etc. It's endemic in the far left and (by extension) the Democrat Party power structure. They HATE the military, and it shows.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the education level of our Armed Forces:

– 49.2 percent of officers have advanced or professional degrees; 39.4 percent have master’s degrees, 8.5 percent have professional degrees and 1.3 percent have doctorate degrees.

– 22.8 percent of company grade officers have advanced degrees; 16.5 percent have master’s degrees, 5.9 percent have professional degrees and 0.3 percent have doctorate degrees.

– 85.4 percent of field grade officers have advanced degrees; 70.7 percent have master’s degrees, 12.1 percent have professional degrees and 2.5 percent have doctorate degrees.

– 99.9 percent of the enlisted force have at least a high school education; 73.3 percent have some semester hours toward a college degree; 16.2 percent have an associate’s degree or equivalent semester hours; 4.7 percent have a bachelor’s degree; 0.7 percent have a master’s degree and .01 percent have a professional or doctorate degree.”

that is from an internal military survey, which you can find HERE.

If you want more detailed information, an overall survey was performed by the heritage Foundation and an article on it (along with nifty charts) can be found HERE.

The point is, our military is OVERWHELMINGLY Educated, Middle Class, and White. (although whites are, on a proportional basis, slightly underrepresented, with Pacific Islanders somewhat overrepresented.) While I don't have specific figures I can quote, My understanding is that America's military is among the (if not THE) best educated and highest class (economically) in the world. That's something I, for one, am very proud of.

I hope that answers your questions.

I don't think you're reading the situation quite right. As a branch of the USAF, theAFRL (Air Force Research Labs) would never report to NG. I've been on contracts similar to this. Basically, NG will be expected to deliver some sort of "architecture" that will provide guidance to the AF.

And even if the accelerator is drive-by-wire the brakes are not and will likely never be.

An old Air Force paper http://www.ml.afrl.af.mil/publications/factsheets/Brake_by_Wie.pdf references an agreement with Delphi Automotive Systems to bring brake-by-wire to the US auto industry.

According to a market forecast published by Tier One in 2001, "brake-by-wire installations were predicted to jump from zero in 2002 to over 19% by 2010. The most likely applications were assumed to be luxury vehicles, performance cars and hybrid vehicles (combined with regenerative braking systems)." Gosh, that sure sounds like the vehicle classes folks are complaining have the problem...

> Yet, the times the West has faced Russian hardware (I.E. Vietnam, various Middle East conflicts), the hardware has, on average, performed pretty well against equivalent Western hardware.

That's not true. The regular Vietnamese army by and large lost when it fought the Americans head on. The Viet Cong were basically able to take over the country using terror tactics and declining support for the conflict forced a US pull out. Only then did North Vietnam send its army to conquer South Vietnam.

Back when the US was still fighting, they could not do that, because it would be obliterated

E.g. here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive#North_Vietnam

The leadership in Hanoi must have been initially despondent about the outcome of their great gamble.[151][152] Their first and most ambitious goal, producing a general uprising, had ended in a dismal failure. In total, approximately 85,000–100,000 communist troops had participated in the initial onslaught and in the follow-up phases. Overall, during the "Border Battles" of 1967 and the nine-month winter-spring campaign, 45,267 communist troops had been killed in action.[153]

The keys to the failure of Tet are not difficult to discern. Hanoi had underestimated the strategic mobility of the allied forces, which allowed them to redeploy at will to threatened areas; their battle plan was too complex and difficult to coordinate, which was amply demonstrated by the 30 January attacks; their violation of the principle of mass, attacking everywhere instead of concentrating their forces on a few specific targets, allowed their forces to be defeated piecemeal; the launching of massed attacks headlong into the teeth of vastly superior firepower; and last, but not least, the incorrect assumptions upon which the entire campaign was based.[154] According to General Tran Van Tra: "We did not correctly evaluate the specific balance of forces between ourselves and the enemy, did not fully realize that the enemy still had considerable capabilities, and that our capabilities were limited, and set requirements that were beyond our actual strength

Almost half of the North Vietnamese troops in the Tet Offensive died and none of their military objectives were met. The US had better technology, better firepower and was more reactive to events.

In the Middle East it was even more uneven. The Israelis using Western equipment have done very well e.g.

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj89/win89/hurley.html

The US army totally outclassed the Iraqi army when it fought - thousands of times more Iraqi soldiers died than American ones in the Gulf War and many more only survived because they deserted. In fact it was the perception that Soviet equipment is worthless that became common after the Gulf War that lead to the argument that the US was only facing "Monkey Model" hardware, not the real stuff.

Actually I think the real explanation was that the North Vietnamese and Iraqis had "Monkey Model" societies compared to the US, i.e. tyrannies that are unable to process information properly or engineer effective armaments. That means that their armies have a tendency to get slaughtered when they fight determined democracies.

But for getting a look at the bad guys without putting anyone in harm's way? A $2k tricked out R/C airplane will get you there.

You mean like this little guy?

The system code named DESCH (named for Joseph Desch, who led the secret WWII project which developed a decoder for the Nazi Enigma encrypted messages.) collects terabytes of raw data gathered by the USAF Gotcha's synthetic aperture radar equipped UAV's orbiting over an area of interest in a war zone. The system images a 5km dia "city sized" view and processes the result into 3D image maps while recording to disk for review. The 400 Megapixel per second streaming images allow zooms into areas of interest, observation of minute changes and the ability to track personel and vehicals in the urban battle field. http://www.wpafb.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123165818/

So if you look at the front of that thing, perhaps easier to see if you go to the hi-res photo, it kinda looks like the front of an an X-wing fighter...

That's stealing!

I found music for free here!! Let's STEAL IT!

Wright Patterson Air Force Base (outside Dayton Ohio) has an amazing museum of all things flight related. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/visit/

There is a museum in Dayton, OH which is just about Dayton's only attraction. This is the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Some of their exhibits include:

• Rockets from satellites with cameras that used to drop their film back to Earth once fully exposed.
• The new (and now discontinued) F-22 Raptor
• A full-size B-2 bomber (engineering model with no engines, but everything else)
• Many planes formerly known as "Air Force One"
• Lots of experimental aircraft, including those from the famous Skunkworks project
• Frames from real atomic bombs

Admittedly, this may not be as electronics or computer nerd like we all assume you are, but if you are into any level of mechanical engineering or have been a pilot at any level, then you will surely appreciate this place, even if you only visit it once in your lifetime.

There are no parking or admission fees and they're open just about every day of the year, except for three major holidays.

If you like military museums, the Air Force Museum in Dayton is very cool, as is the Patton Museum of Armor in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

The National Museum of the US Air Force is worth a look if you're passing through the Dayton area along I-70. You can easily spend an entire day there, but it's segmented into different exhibits that you can pick/choose from to fit your allowed time. Lots of nearby hotels, as well.

As an airplane nut I really enjoyed the Air Force Museum (http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/). We had originally planned to stay one day but ended up staying two. And make sure to sign up to see and tour the retired Air Force Ones that they have in a separate hangar (along with experimental prototype planes like the X-1).

Also while in Dayton, check out the Wright Brother's Bicycle Shop!

National Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio. Everything from a Wright Flyer to a Mach 3 XB-70 Valkyre and all in between.

Liberty Science Center in Jersey is pretty decent, and has the advantage of being right near the Statue so you can do that too.
If you're aviation/space types, I recommend the Air Force Museum in Ohio.
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/exhibits/

There's also the NASA sites - Houston and Canaveral both have extensive places to walk around and see things.

LOL... Haven't seen too many bomb craters, huh?

In Iraq I worked out of hardened aircraft shelters that the yugoslavians built for saddam in the 80's. I have pics but none of the are online... OK here's one from google.

http://www.ausairpower.net/Balad-AFB-HAS-2S.jpg

The round satellite dish on top is ~15 feet tall, for perspective. The entire structure is concrete reinforced (And I mean reinforced as in 2-inch steel bar set 2 inches apart in layers 12 inches apart, and all welded).

So on the inside you're looking up at 30-45 feet of armor depending on where you stand (the ceilings are vaulted). When we invaded, we dropped one penetrator per shelter, completely destroying everything inside (airplanes), and leaving a nice round ten-feet diameter hole through all that expensive armor.

That was done with 2000 lb bombs. These bad boys right here:
http://www.centaf.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/011022-F-2034C-010.jpg

A shelter could survive 200 feet underground from a air- or surface-burst nuke. That's why we build penetrators to take us down to 200 feet, and more specifically penetrators with conventional charges so we can test them without violating treaties. The people who build these things are very good at what they do.

-b

Air Force testing new transparent armor
"ALONtm is virtually scratch resistant, offers substantial impact resistance, and provides better durability and protection against armor piercing threats, at roughly half the weight and half the thickness of traditional glass transparent armor", said the lieutenant.

Transparant aluminum == aluminum oxynitride. Been around for decades.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123012131

  Finally under test about 4 years ago at WPAFB. Was discussing it at counter-IED deployment I did in Baghdad a couple years ago, as window armor for MRAPS, JEERVS, and HMMWVs, but the stuff is wickedly expensive.

So one F22 (properly maintained and competently piloted) is equal to how many old F16s?

Many. In war games, single F-22s often take out entire squadrons of F-16s before they're even seen on radar.

http://www.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123041831

The wing commander and the vice commander at the 45th Space Wing are both African-American. Brig Gen Bolton, http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=9511 and http://www.patrick.af.mil/library/biographies/index.asp