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Test Pilot: the F-35 Can't Dogfight

schwit1 sends this report from the War Is Boring column: A test pilot has some very, very bad news about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The pricey new stealth jet can't turn or climb fast enough to hit an enemy plane during a dogfight or to dodge the enemy's own gunfire, the pilot reported following a day of mock air battles back in January. And to add insult to injury, the JSF flier discovered he couldn't even comfortably move his head inside the radar-evading jet's cramped cockpit. "The helmet was too large for the space inside the canopy to adequately see behind the aircraft." That allowed the F-16 to sneak up on him. The test pilot's report is the latest evidence of fundamental problems with the design of the F-35 — which, at a total program cost of more than a trillion dollars, is history's most expensive weapon. Your tax dollars at work.

843 comments

  1. Drone It by thedonger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How much extra to make a drone version with 360 degree cameras? Fuck it. We're at $1 trillion. What's a few hundred billion more?

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    1. Re:Drone It by nyet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not only that, but no artificial limit to g. No pilot to keep conscious.

    2. Re:Drone It by thaylin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No conscience to keep from killing innocents.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    3. Re:Drone It by trout007 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The F-35's wings are too small for the mass of the plane. It can't pull enough G's to black out a pilot.

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      I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
    4. Re:Drone It by Junta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Drones with weapons aren't autonomous.

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      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    5. Re:Drone It by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Perhaps, though to be fair, much of this can be worked around (for how much? Tons o cash, eh?)

      It's fairly standard that smaller/slower aircraft are very often more agile than the bigger boys - you just have to find the aircraft's strengths and play to those. For instance, the tiny T-35/F5 can commonly out-maneuver an F-15... at lower altitudes. At higher altitudes, the F-15 handles itself better in the thinner air of the upper stratosphere.

      The F-16 is more than agile in lower altitudes, because it was built to be a combination air/air air/ground fighter, which leads me to believe that maybe these dogfights were conducted at lower altitudes... I am also curious (haven't looked) as to what the flight/fight profile of the F-35 is in the first place. if it's Air Superiority, then that usually means higher altitudes where there may be a better advantage. Anything else appears to be a whole lot of incompetence in design.

      All that said, they had to know there were going to be compromises when doing the whole stealth (maneuverability) and STOL/VTOL (engine power) thing.

      Or, best bet may be to scrap the damn thing and hold a competition for an aircraft that's worth a damn, and this time make the entrants build a working prototype *first*, without any governmental money up front... like they did in the old days.

      --
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    6. Re:Drone It by myowntrueself · · Score: 0, Troll

      Drones with weapons aren't autonomous.

      Drone pilots don't seem to have much of a conscience either. They are far removed from the action, the consequences, less involved.

      If I were up against drones my first response would be infiltrators who would target the drone pilots families, the shops they go to, the people they owe money to, people who owe them money etc etc. Go Kaiser Sose on them. If they want to hide behind drones let them face the consequences.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    7. Re:Drone It by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      It's not as easy to sneak onto a military base (where, you know, base housing is located) as the TV/movies would have you believe. You do know that, right?

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    8. Re:Drone It by Sloppy · · Score: 4, Informative

      make the entrants build a working prototype *first*, without any governmental money up front

      Waitaminute, Congressman. Why would I fund your campaign, if you're not going to vote to give the public's money to me? I thought we had a deal: you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

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    9. Re:Drone It by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Funny

      It was built to fly in the dense atmosphere of Venus. Or maybe it's actually a submarine (like 007's Lotus). It will pull lots of g's when it hits the water. Remember, it's a secret weapon.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    10. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds good, but you'd be dead before you got started. If you were up against drones, they would kill you. Then your ghost could impotently try to kill all those people you mentioned...

    11. Re:Drone It by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      There are no innocents in the eyes of the overlord.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    12. Re:Drone It by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 5, Informative

      Drone pilots are actually burning out due to extreme crisis of conscious issues. They work 9-5 killing people, then go home to their families; they're not living in a constructed fantasy of good versus evil fueled by the fact that other people are living in the same fantasy and mutually trying to kill you under the impression that you're the invader. They see themselves as terrible assassins, not righteous heroes fighting a murderous enemy.

    13. Re:Drone It by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It sounds to me like our current crop of F16 fighters are superior. Why do we have a $1 trillion plane? I'm not saying it's a lot of money--it's only about $100bn every year, maybe less, for 10 years of development; and even $1 trillion right now one time wouldn't be a world-changing amount of money--but this is a lot of waste that could have gone elsewhere, for no obvious purpose. Somebody said, "We need better planes!", and I question why, when we have such fantastic planes, and when historical wars included clearly-inferior planes like MIG fighters wiping the floor with models three decades more up-to-date.

    14. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      Do ALL the operators' loved ones live on a military base? All of them? And you know that drones only work against camel humpers, right? Take on an industrialized nation and your drones become useless - and you just turned your commsats and your own bases in your homeland into legitimate targets.

    15. Re:Drone It by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

      Depends on the base. Fort Knox, which all of the movies have you believe is lock down tight secure, has a public highway going right through the middle of it. When I used to serve there, I sometimes went through this trailer park called Radcliff to get to the mall in the hillbilly city of Elizabethtown. No checkpoints anywhere along the way, just plain open road, with lots of deer and tick filled bushes.

    16. Re:Drone It by neilo_1701D · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I am also curious (haven't looked) as to what the flight/fight profile of the F-35 is in the first place.

      It's a replacement for everything. In theory, it can do the job of the A-10, F-16, F/A-18, and Harrier Jump Jet (to name a few)

      In practice, so many competing priorities means compromises.

    17. Re:Drone It by Krishnoid · · Score: 5, Funny

      They see themselves as terrible assassins, not righteous heroes fighting a murderous enemy.

      See, that's the problem -- as long as they see themselves in either role, it won't work. Perhaps if they were isolated at youth, taught to fight each other, and then misled into thinking it was just a really good video game or simulation of some sort. I bet they could make a movie out of that.

    18. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lots of other reasons as well to make it into a UAV/UACV:

      1: Plane crashes, whoop-de-doo. No worry about POWs or notifying next of kin.
      2: No need for a life support subsystem, ejection seats, or other items to support manned flight.
      3: More payload capacity.
      4: Add AI, make it able to make dogfight decisions by itself. It won't be able to take all things into account, but it should at least be able to do anything a pilot does. That way if airwaves get jammed, the plane will still be able to continue combat, and not just land on the ground like the drone did in Iran.

    19. Re:Drone It by asylumx · · Score: 3, Funny

      There is a book named En... ohhhhh..... I see what you did there.

    20. Re:Drone It by lgw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Originally, the F22 was to fill the air superiority role (and it does that better than any fighter ever made), and the F35 was the mish-mash of other roles. Everyone following this stuff knew the F35 wouldn't be great at any one particular role, but for dogfighting it was always a joke - and really, that was OK, as the F22 had its back if needed. But we stopped buying F22s way too soon, we don't have enough, and the huge R&D costs weren't spread across enough planes.

      The F35 always seemed like the result of no clear charter for it's role: "just do everything". It's not a bad plane for the requirements as presented: for a jack-iof-all-trades plane it's great at nothing, but it's really as good as you could reasonably expect given the lack of a specific role.

      The Air Force also has a problem that we've spent too long dropping bombs on opponents with no real air power. We should be using actual bombers for that role: far cheaper per bomb, but fighter pilots run the place. As a result, we get fighters trying to be bombers on top of everything else, and no plans to replace the aging bomber fleet anytime soon (admittedly, a B52 is fine vs an opponent who can't shoot back, but even the B1 is getting old vs an opponent who can).

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    21. Re:Drone It by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

      Grand Ma and Grand Pa likely don't live on a military base, nor does the kids that go to College.

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    22. Re: Drone It by rworne · · Score: 1

      You know what they say about a "Jack-of-all-trades"...

      --
      I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
    23. Re:Drone It by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2, Informative

      Enders Game?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    24. Re:Drone It by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      Drone pilots are actually burning out due to extreme crisis of conscious issues. They work 9-5 killing people, then go home to their families; they're not living in a constructed fantasy of good versus evil fueled by the fact that other people are living in the same fantasy and mutually trying to kill you under the impression that you're the invader. They see themselves as terrible assassins, not righteous heroes fighting a murderous enemy.

      Well good then because they are terrible assassins.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    25. Re:Drone It by DarkOx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Drone pilots don't seem to have much of a conscience either.

      BUNK!

      Drone piolots have no doubt done somethings history won't look kindly on but so has basically every fighting man using whatever technology and tactics. Sure maybe some just do it for the pay check or lack of other options but most of the people that enlist in our volunteer armed services have some conviction about defending the nation.

      They are fed probably ten times as much propaganda about the enemy as the rest of us and yet 9999 times of 10000 or more they continue to treat the enemy humanely and frequently place themselves in grater danger to do so. Drone pilots might not face that personal danger and not facing that choice probably makes them better not worse when it comes to "doing the right thing". Suppose all the drone missions were instead flowing with manned aircraft, with pilots always wonder when they might be surprised by some AA device left over from previous conflicts. Do think they would make more or fewer errors?

      Militaries kill people and break things, its what they do on a very very fundamental level. Whatever the mission is that is ultimately how it will be effected if you employ the military to do it. Sometimes that is the right thing. I'll be the first to say the middle east aint our fight, and we should bring both the troops and the drones home. Please though lets put the blame for those casualties where it belongs. On the people giving the orders and overseeing the programs. Not on our pilots, sailors and soldiers who really are just following orders.

      If your CO handed you a photo of a nondescript building and said "Intel says a terrorist cell is hiding out here, hit it with a hellfire" What would you do? You would probably do what most of us would take them at their word and follow the order. When you read next week in the Time about how the CIA fucked up again and the place was full of civilians you'd feel guilty and not re-enlist when the time come, a problem the Air Force currently is having.

      I hope you take some responsibility for it when you next visit the ballot box and cast your vote for someone who will stop doing this crap.

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    26. Re:Drone It by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Politics seems to conflict with the engineering process.

      We make a prototype and test it. Then we fix the problems and try again.
      It is rather expensive and time consuming. But it is the process. Aircraft are not your standard PC there are factors that are still not easily simulated.

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    27. Re:Drone It by ihtoit · · Score: 2, Informative

      OK, just in the past SIX YEARS, there have been, to my immediate recollection, THREE fatal shootings on mainland US Navy yards:
      November 2009: Fort Hood
      September 2013: Washington
      March 2014: Norfolk, WV - the World's LARGEST Naval base.

      NOT ONLY were those shootings on apparently SECURE installations, they were on installations where apparently only base police were permitted to carry ANY type of firearms. Yet, the perpetrators were able to DRIVE through the gates unchecked and wander the bases with their weapons in FULL OPEN VIEW.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    28. Re:Drone It by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      No pilot to keep conscious.

      Pilots black out anyhow when they see the bill

    29. Re:Drone It by quantaman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not only that, but no artificial limit to g. No pilot to keep conscious.

      You now need to write a drone AI that you trust with lethal weaponry or a remote control system that's unjammable.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    30. Re:Drone It by bhcompy · · Score: 2

      Base housing? What? Do you think this is 1990? The armed forces have largely unloaded their base housing holdings. The government would rather hand out a stipend than maintain that property

    31. Re:Drone It by myowntrueself · · Score: 2

      It's not as easy to sneak onto a military base (where, you know, base housing is located) as the TV/movies would have you believe. You do know that, right?

      Grandparents included, I bet they don't all live on base. Aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews etc, you can't keep them all under armed guard all the time. Any relatives who live overseas get big giant targets painted on them. Oh and this info was all recently leaked. It shouldn't be too hard to find them.

      Its ugly but thats how you have to fight against an opponent who acts like this. Its basic Sun Tzu; in response to an enemy who takes shelter in an impregnable position you attack something (outside of that position) they MUST defend.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    32. Re:Drone It by ihtoit · · Score: 2

      the brief was for a JSF. Jack of all trades, master of none. Supercruise (supersonic without going afterburner), stealth, out-turn everything else with a jet engine, and STOVL. It can do NONE of these apart from an unladen STOVL. For a laden STO it needs a RAMP. It can't even HOVER with a full weapons load.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    33. Re:Drone It by Junta · · Score: 1

      make it able to make dogfight decisions by itself.

      I would say no to the actually firing bit. Sure have it be able to evade and retreat or adjust flight to try to get around jamming, but there's a dangerous step to let the AI take hold of the trigger.

      I know the same can be said of humans, but at least we know how to contend with that reality.

      --
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    34. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Fly by Death Wire

    35. Re:Drone It by medv4380 · · Score: 2

      Wouldn't the drone wireless signal give away the stealth?

    36. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      We're not "at $1 trillion." The $1 trillion figure is the total program cost, through 2038, including all development, procurement, training, operations, upgrades and repairs. Between now and 2038, by simply extrapolating 2015 figures, (which is a conservative approach) the US will create about $385 trillion of wealth and the Federal government will collect $71 trillion in tax revenue. Spending 0.2% of that product on a powerful weapon is entirely reasonable.

      As for the F-35; it's a stealth multirole fighter with VTOL. Dog fighting was never the top priority. Using the F-16 to disparage new designs, as was done with the Eurofighter and the F-22, is now a traditional tactic of pentagon critics and should be dismissed as the bullshit that it is.

      The story is a hit piece from an anonymous source written by a peacenik named David Axe that advocates, among other stupid things, abolishing the US Air Force.

    37. Re:Drone It by ihtoit · · Score: 3, Interesting

      that's the GDP of Australia you're talking about, I think it's a bit of a world changer for about twenty three million 'Roos.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    38. Re: Drone It by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You mean "Oft times better than a master of one"?

    39. Re:Drone It by MondoGordo · · Score: 0

      I saw what you did there ... good one.

    40. Re:Drone It by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      Drones with weapons aren't autonomous.

      It's only a matter of time.

    41. Re:Drone It by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Informative

      In theory, it can do the job of the A-10, F-16, F/A-18, and Harrier Jump Jet (to name a few)

      That's crazy.

      So, tank-buster/ground attack, fighter jet, carrier launched fighter jet, and close air support.

      There is simply no way in hell to replace the A-10, in terms of armament of hardening. Because the A-10 is ridiculous in terms of those things (and I mean that in the most awesome sense of the word, because it's legendary for survivability and that huge canon).

      It can't replace the F-16, because it's not nearly as good at the same role, and can't beat it in the air.

      If the F/A-18 is also a fighter I'd be curious to see if the F-35 can even touch that.

      And a VTOL close air support aircraft, which is armed to the teeth and can do many tasks ... well, at this point I'm skeptical.

      I'd be curious if there is a single aircraft this F-35 is supposed to replace, which it can actually best in that category.

      If it is inferior in the specific features of the stuff it's replacing, it's pretty much a terrible aircraft.

      --
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    42. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 4, Informative

      Drone pilots more removed from the action than infantry? Hell yes.

      More removed then the rest of the Air Force? Hell no.

      The way a drone strike works is a drone loiters on station for weeks on end. During this time the drone's pilots figure out who is in the house when, so they can avoid blowing it up when the local equivalent of the Girl Scouts are in the living room. Which means drone pilots know when their target takes the trash out, whether the teenage daughter has a boyfriend who sneaks in sometimes, etc. This makes for attacks that are much easier on the civilian population then normal bombing, because you can skip the night when the girl and her boyfriend are enjoying themselves, but it makes for very stressed out drone pilots.

      OTOH, an F-16 would only be able to loiter on target for a half-hour at a time, and the pilot would be spending his time there focussing on the attack, so he has no fucking idea that the terrorist mastermind he's about to attack has a daughter up to hijinks. He'll drop the bomb, write on his paperwork that the building was totaly destroyed, and dance the Dance of Successful Combat Missions.

    43. Re:Drone It by myowntrueself · · Score: 0, Troll

      I can't think of a greater coward in military service than a drone pilot. Except maybe an ICBM crew.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    44. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And now you know why some people are constantly skeptical about this thing.
      As soon as the words multi-role were said with regard to the f-35 it was obvious it would fail.

    45. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Contrary to popular belief, G-limits are not generally due to pilot endurance but airframe load limits. They also aren't simple knockdown values. Saying an aircraft can 'pull 9g's' doesn't really mean a lot. Under what conditions? At what altitude? At what speed? With what stores? At what fuel state? What are the roll limits? A F-16 can pull a lot of Gs under specific conditions, conditions generally not met in combat.

      A clean F-16 can blackout a pilot. A F-16 with a combat load, generally, can not. Same for all the F-teens. That lady saying 'Over-G' isn't telling you you're about to black out, she's telling you you're breaking the airplane and you need to stop.

      Could you design an unmanned aircraft that can sustain 15g? Sure, but why? G load is the result of a lot of variables, so more G doesn't nessecairly translate into 'more maneuverable'. These days higher g loads don't necessarily net you anything and cost you a bundle in airframe weight. That means gas, guns or sensors you're leaving on the ground to make MGTW.

      Missiles should be pulling the g, not the aircraft.

    46. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Current planes are much superior at fighting World War 2, where dogfighting at speed was the norm.

      For future wars it's not quite so clear. The last time we engaged in any real dogfights was Vietnam. The Iraqis, who had the planes to dogfight us in the first war, fled to Iran because they figured they'd die of massed missile fire before they got into cannon range.

      The theory behind F-35 is that it's virtually impossible to detect, and we have the electronic warfare capabilities to detect anything anyone else actually has. That means that F-35 should be able to fly around at Mach 1.6 with being targeted by the enemy (who don't even know where it is), while firing off it's missiles whenever an enemy aircraft gets into range. It's more a submarine or cloaked starship then a fighter craft. If it works it'll revolutionize aerial warfare and instantly make every Air Force in the world obsolete. Especially the one belonging to Vladimir Putin.

    47. Re:Drone It by Junta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That may be a valid concern, however that's orthogonal to the point about whether a pilot needs to be inside a craft or not.

      Points can be made about how susceptible it would be to jamming attacks and such. However as it stands the statement that drones have no conscience is about as useful as saying a bullet has no conscience.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    48. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The F35's role is basicly 'do everything anyone could ever want with one airframe'.

      Which is why it's over budgets and under performing.

      A smarter solution would probably have been to design a series of role specific airframes that use the same interchangeable interior parts (engines, avionics, etc.) as the goal was to get all branches of the military buying them to benefit from economics of scale, and the logistical benefits of combined operations all using compatible hardware.

    49. Re:Drone It by synaptik · · Score: 1

      Ft. Hood is Army not Navy, and 2009 was perpetrated by an insider, not an intruder driving through gates unchecked. There was also a 2014 shooting there (also insider.)

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    50. Re:Drone It by Gryle · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Getting on to most military bases in the US is fairly easy. Getting into the secured buildings where the interesting stuff goes on is much much harder.

      --
      Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
    51. Re:Drone It by myowntrueself · · Score: 0

      Drone pilots more removed from the action than infantry? Hell yes.

      More removed then the rest of the Air Force? Hell no.

      The way a drone strike works is a drone loiters on station for weeks on end. During this time the drone's pilots figure out who is in the house when, so they can avoid blowing it up when the local equivalent of the Girl Scouts are in the living room. Which means drone pilots know when their target takes the trash out, whether the teenage daughter has a boyfriend who sneaks in sometimes, etc. This makes for attacks that are much easier on the civilian population then normal bombing, because you can skip the night when the girl and her boyfriend are enjoying themselves, but it makes for very stressed out drone pilots.

      OTOH, an F-16 would only be able to loiter on target for a half-hour at a time, and the pilot would be spending his time there focussing on the attack, so he has no fucking idea that the terrorist mastermind he's about to attack has a daughter up to hijinks. He'll drop the bomb, write on his paperwork that the building was totaly destroyed, and dance the Dance of Successful Combat Missions.

      So why is it they keep blowing up weddings? And then blowing up everyone who comes to help?

      Cowards. But thats become the American way.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    52. Re:Drone It by Junta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The same could be said of pretty much every advancement. Guys with clubs are cowards because the barehanded guys don't have a chance. Guys with swords are cowards because the guys with clubs don't stand a chance. Guys with arrows are cowards because the guys with swords across the field don't stand a chance. So on and so forth.

      Of the factors driving reluctance to engage in harming other people, I don't think giving the other guy a sporting chance to kill you is a good factor. As others have pointed out, without your own life on the line you may have the opportunity to be more careful about how you proceed. If you are in imminent danger of getting killed, you may be more likely to make hasty judgment calls, collateral civilian damage be damned.

      --
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    53. Re:Drone It by schnell · · Score: 5, Informative

      It sounds to me like our current crop of F16 fighters are superior. Why do we have a $1 trillion plane?

      There are plenty of reasons, good and bad. I'll assume you are asking a serious question, and give you the short version of the most often cited answers:

      Good reasons include:

      • It's stealthy(ish), and has an Active Electronically Scanned Array radar . Part of the idea is that you can see the other guy but they can't see you, so you have blown them out of the sky at BVR (Beyond Visual Range) and never had to get to the point of a dogfight.
      • It's supposed to replace a bunch of different fighters and attack aircraft among the services' current fleets with a single airframe. Better QC, cheaper spare parts, buying in bulk, yadda yadda. The different models for the Air Force (F-35A), Navy (F-35C) and Marines (F-35B) turned out to be more different than expected, but that at least was the idea.
      • America's allies wanted access to a fifth-generation fighter for their own militaries - which they weren't going to build on their own - and if the US didn't build a relatively affordable one (we weren't going to sell anyone the F-22 since it's our trump card for air superiority) they were going to have to buy them from Russia or China.

      Debatable reasons include:

      • It - like the military itself - is kind of a Federal jobs program. If you keep your existing jets and don't build new ones, then you lose the employees with the skills and experience needed to do the job. (Kind of like we may not be able to build new nuclear weapons if we wanted them because we haven't made them for so long and everyone with any experience has retired.)

      Bad reasons include:

      • The military and its defense contractors need new weapons programs to work on in order to justify their careers and existence (military procurement officers) and make money (contractors). Both groups have strong influence in congress, not least because of all the jobs they support (see above).
      • The F-35 was intended to revolutionize weapons system procurements by using a strategy of "concurrency" - think of it like agile vs. waterfall development. The idea was better stuff, quicker and cheaper. It turned out - like some of the lessons Boeing learned with the 787 - that agile development may work great at Facebook but it's a train wreck when applied to aerospace, military systems and gigantic procurements. Oops.

      There were also plenty of f***ups in assumptions the program made that were only really recognizable in hindsight, like the fact that trying to mesh the Marines' requirement for a V/STOL aircraft with the traditional designs for the Air Force and Navy hobbled the plane's performance for all three constituencies.

      I know a lot of people are very critical of the F-35, and rightfully should be. But it's not as bad as it may sound - I think it will eventually turn into a decent (but never great) aircraft with a long service life. It's out there flying around today, but will take probably 10 more years to get to where everyone hoped it would be in terms of capabilities. Nonetheless, you will almost certainly still see F-35s flying around under US colors in 2050, so in the long run it will work out OK.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
    54. Re:Drone It by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 1

      Valid point on the acknowledged $1,000,000,000,000 program cost. I would only point out that this cost will inevitably increase over time if the program continues.

      Your assumption that the US economy will continue to steadily grow over the next 20 odd years is not conservative, but arguably optimistic.

      Whether the F-35 is a powerful weapon is open to debate. Certainly, one could question whether the money could be better spent elsewhere. For instance, a trillion dollars will buy about 250,000 Predator drones.

    55. Re:Drone It by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

      Yeah but GP was talking about soldier housing. The housing at Fort Knox is located just off of that public highway.

    56. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can think, but you refuse to. You prefer to live in a cartoon world where everything is black-and-white and you never have to confront the terrifying specter that is nuance.

    57. Re:Drone It by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      That is the sort of lets compare penis size thinking that gets us in wars in the first place. If bravery means putting your self in harms way when there is an equally effective and far less costly solution that does not place you in personal jeopardy available, than bravery has become synonymous with idiocy.

      Its costs more per hour for a maned aircraft to be in the air, a pilot who is under some threat however small stuffed in a cramped cockpit is not going to make a better last moment decision about a target than a drone pilot, who has more time to think about the immediate state on the ground.

      The problem is we are selecting targets based on shitty intelligence and in many cases nothing but metadata and then dropping bombs on people. Yep drones have become a flashpoint around the world for outrage. I don't really see any evidence to suggest sentiment toward maned American military aircraft would be much better if we were using them the way we are using the drones. Most of the targets don't really have the capacity to shoot back at something like jet fighter-bomber anyway.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    58. Re:Drone It by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      Weddings are social occasions that may demand that even the most wanted people come out of hiding to participate. That doesn't excuse them being used as targets. It's just the reason they're chosen.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    59. Re:Drone It by just_a_monkey · · Score: 1

      This makes for attacks that are much easier on the civilian population then normal bombing, because you can skip the night when the girl and her boyfriend are enjoying themselves, but it makes for very stressed out drone pilots.

      Why?

      --
      How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean.
    60. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > This makes for attacks that are much easier on the civilian population then normal bombing, because you can skip the night when the girl and her boyfriend are enjoying themselves, but it makes for very stressed out drone pilots.

      The next time you shill for the drones programs faggot try not to make it so obvious we're using them back home. Jesus! Can't get good help these days.

    61. Re:Drone It by aix+tom · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Especially the one belonging to Vladimir Putin.

      I wonder how the same dogfight test would play out against the Sukhoi PAK FA, the somewhat comparable new Russian stealth fighter. The F-35 seems to have a maximum g-load of 9g, while the PAK-FA has one of over 9g. The thrust/weight ratio of the PAK FA also is higher, at 1.02 to 1.36 depending on configuration and fuel load, compared to the F-35s of 0.87 to 1.07. (At least as far as the "official/unclassified" specifications seem to go)

    62. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem is that the US always is fighting the last war. After 9/11, a lot of money has been spent to deal with asymmetrical warfare, essentially fighting Vietnam but in desert country. Drones are useful, because (if intel is correct), they can do relatively pinpoint strikes without videos of civilian death tolls hitting Al Jazeera the next day (again, assuming intel was right, and the place was an ammo stash and not a madrasa full of little ones.) In reality, the only way to fight a war like ISIS is to do what was done to Germany -- level all cities (and all buildings in the city) that even are rumored to have insurgents. Without the commitment to do actual, yucky warfare that completely breaks all resistance... half-ass measures just creates emboldened enemies (think "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!".)

      I really wonder if the US could fight a war against an organized country without a major sea change. The circus about military contracts was a major blow to readiness. First it was no-bid contracts... then contracts only given to HUBs that had relatively little to no experience. There is something humiliating about basic things like shower heads not being grounded, causing fatal electrocution and batteries with cracks in them repaired with Loctite.

      The last time a "full-ass" conflict was done... was under George Bush Sr, when he dealt with Iraq invading an ally. The US came in, cleaned house, re-established Kuwait, and left without damaging Saddam so much that Iran or other outsiders felt they had a free invitation to invade the now-weakend Iraq. Of course, his son destroyed the country resulting in a power vacuum and the crap we have today.

      The US also has the weakness that propaganda works on the people, but not the other way round. ISIS's sole reason they exist is because of YouTube and CNN. If their gory videos didn't make it out of the region, other nations wouldn't be recognizing ISIS's flag as a sovereign country, and they wouldn't be getting recruits worldwide from disaffected people. You get some FX artists good at moulage work, grab some kids and babies, make a video about a missile hit with all the damage done, and US people will be protesting in the streets for surrender, peace at any cost. No political official in the US has the cajones to stop the press from showing videos (even faked) 24/7. Losing the propaganda game lost Afghanistan and Iraq.

      Who knows... maybe true war between nations has become obsolete... but that was said before World War 1, and it only took a month for uneasy neighbors to become dire enemies, and in the age of the Internet, it might just take only seconds to minutes before all hell breaks loose globally.

    63. Re:Drone It by SpankiMonki · · Score: 1

      I can't think of a greater coward in military service than a drone pilot. Except maybe an ICBM crew.

      You have a strange definition of coward".

      Just because someone is in a military role that doesn't expose them to enemy fire doesn't make that person a coward. By your definition, every military force on earth has a large proportion of cowards in their service.

    64. Re:Drone It by dmaul99 · · Score: 1

      Throwing in good money after bad. The technology is already obsolete. Drones didn't exist when this thing was dreamt up, drones could run circles around these things. Try to repurpose the knowledge and technology for NASA stuff, but stop this welfare program now. That's all it is. Keeping a lot of people employed, and for what? When in the hell is anybody going to engage in a dogfight nowadays? There's no use case anymore.

    65. Re:Drone It by CronoCloud · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Cowards. But thats become the American way.

      So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
      â" Sun Tzu, The Art of War

      The art of using troops is this:
      â¦â¦When ten to the enemyâ(TM)s one, surround him;
      â¦â¦When five times his strength, attack him;
      â¦â¦If double his strength, divide him;
      â¦â¦If equally matched you may engage him;
      â¦â¦If weaker numerically, be capable of withdrawing;
      â¦â¦And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him,
      â¦â¦â¦.for a small force is but booty for one more powerful.â
      â" Sun Tzu, the Art of War

      There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all Hell. -- William Tecumseh Sherman

      I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country. -- Patton

      The American Military has advantages, it uses them. It is not cowardly to use one's military advantages. If I have a gun that shoots a mile and yours only shoots a half a mile, why should I close to a half a mile, I should stay out of your range and kill you when you are easy prey and can't shoot back.

    66. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://skepdic.com/sunkcost.html

    67. Re:Drone It by Martin+Blank · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The main problem is the Marines wanting a replacement for the Harrier, something that can do STOL/STOVL operations, and that is completely under their control. The JSF was already under development, and the contractors said they could figure out how to make it fit the Marine requirements. What we got was a fighter that can't dogfight, a strike aircraft with a pitifully small payload, and the political impossibility of starting over from scratch.

      One of the lessons that came out of this and the Zumwalt-class destroyer programs is that the military should stop trying to cram every feature into a program. While the proliferation of designs led to unwieldy logistics in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the attempts to simplify everything have resulted in a reduced overall capability and the need to extend the lifetimes of planes the new projects were meant to replace. The F-15 and F-16 will still be around for decades, and may form a larger part of the tactical strike platforms than the USAF would like to admit. The same will probably be the case with the F/A-18E against the Navy's F-35C.

      Dedicated designs are the most efficient. Some of them turn out to be spectacular at other jobs. The F-15 was designed with the adage "not a pound for air-to-ground" and yet from it was developed the F-15E Strike Eagle, an extremely effective air-to-ground platform. Hopefully the military is listening when it goes trying to build its next platform, a replacement for the B-1, B-2, and B-52 expected to come online between 2035 and 2045.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    68. Re:Drone It by amorsen · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Drone pilots don't seem to have much of a conscience either. They are far removed from the action, the consequences, less involved.

      Drone pilots suffer at least as much from PTSD as regular pilots. However, their work environment is tailored to ensure that their kill performance is excellent. If a pilot who is in a plane does not take a shot, it seems to be considered more of a judgement call based on what they saw, whereas if a drone pilot fails to take a shot, all the video evidence is there to go through in the debriefing. Those who fail to perform or who want to leave the assignment are threatened with dishonourable discharge.

      Do not judge them as people without conscience. They are victims too.

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      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    69. Re:Drone It by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Not only that, but no artificial limit to g. No pilot to keep conscious.

      Easier to scrap the airframe and design for a drone, actually. Because too much has been done already in the design to support a pilot.

      If you're not having a pilot, there's a TON of equipment that can be gotten rid of because you don't need life support equipment, all the cockpit gear, even the canopy can go.

      And with all the extra space you make, you can fit more armament and all that in there.

    70. Re:Drone It by plopez · · Score: 1

      Innocents my foot. ;)

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    71. Re:Drone It by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I tend to ignore GDP as an indicator because it's utterly useless. My favorite indicator is AGI, and the best indicators are things like per-capita income and proportion of money spent on things. Even those distort: in the 70s, you made $13k and spent $7k on a car; in 2014, you made $65k and spent $32k on a brand new Camaro--that's less, 49% instead of 53%--yet the damn Camaro has a much-better-engineered engine, suspension, drive train, electronic stability control, satellite navigation system, five-DVD MP3 changer, built-in Spotify, etc. Not to mention people tend to measure cost of the car by amortization of aggregate car payment, maintenance, fuel, insurance, and so forth.

      I've given the 15-paragraph explanation of wealth growth over time too many times. People respond mostly by freaking out or mis-interpreting it as supply-and-demand economics (it's not even vaguely supply-and-demand), because it's a god damn brand new theory, because historians have briefly commented on things like the Industrial Revolution without actually writing the damn pattern down. The above is the short of it, so you can work out the unifying theory of economics yourself and figure out why it's hard to measure economic growth and productivity. Bonus points if you suddenly understand why supply doesn't just increase, instead of price; why some markets overcharge huge mark-ups, and how competition does and doesn't control this; and what technical condition will occur if communism is suddenly the correct economic practice.

      Aside from that, a one-time cash infusion does very little, kind of like if you drop off 500 pounds of rice to an Ethiopian and never feed him again.

    72. Re:Drone It by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      No, because the F-16 was designed as a multi-role fighter and it did extremely well. When it was announced that both the Air Force and Navy would use it, there was concern because of memories of the F-4 (a good plane for its time, but certainly not without its problems) and the compromises it had. When it was announced that it would also replace the Harrier and was planned to become the most common plane in the military, that's when people started fearing the worst.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    73. Re:Drone It by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Until it's invisible, it's not impossible to detect.

    74. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The same would apply for an assassin squad, although the operation would be far more riskier. And that's the point right there. Politicians who would have soldiers killed wouldn't be voted the next time.

      The price for the policy are inevitable civilian casualties.

    75. Re:Drone It by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I was more framing to debate your "good" reasons. I have a car, but the new Mazda has a 10hp more powerful engine. Should I sell my Mazda 3 for $5000 and buy a new Mazda 3 for $21,000?

    76. Re:Drone It by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      It's not as easy to sneak onto a military base (where, you know, base housing is located) as the TV/movies would have you believe. You do know that, right?

      Yes, actually it is as easy to get onto a military base as TV/movies would have you believe. As long as the base includes housing, your worst cast scenario for "sneaking on base" is "steal a car with a base sticker and drive right in". Usually it's easier than that in CONUS.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    77. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's already got 360 degree camera, the issue is the helmet, which contains monitors to view those cameras, is too big, and the helmet uses head movement to select what cameras to show you, so you need to turn your head to see behind you. A simple software mod would throw fisheye view into the helmet or whatever else is needed to see behind you, the plane is suppose to have the tech to spot the F-16 on it's tail, so it's just a matter of displaying that information to the pilot.

    78. Re:Drone It by amorsen · · Score: 2

      The problem with the A-10 is that AA missiles have improved a lot and are improving further. It does not seem viable to build a successor to the A-10 with even more armour.

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      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    79. Re:Drone It by caseih · · Score: 1

      I can't believe you would say these things and advocate killing more innocents, even if you're just playing devils advocate! And you got modded up too. But even worse you pass judgements on individuals you know nothing about.

      I guess you haven't read up on the drone pilot news lately then. Burn-out is super high because drone pilots do have consciences. One guy talked[1] about being ordered to fire on some bad guys, shooting a missile at them, and then watching as one of them bled to death in the sand. On IR camera he could see the guy slowly get cold. That was more traumatic than you and I know. The effects of this and other incidences on this pilot have led to debilitating emotional difficulties. And that's not an uncommon experience.

      Now this same pilot, had he been over in Afghanistan, in the thick of things, and under real danger and fire could have killed without remorse. The justification would be as much self defense as anything. But far removed from the action, the trauma of killing was much much more intense. And then going home afterward to a "normal" life with the wife an kids just amplifies the trauma for many personnel.

      If you want to target the inhuman American war machine, go ahead. War crimes are war crimes, no doubt about it. But to claim drone pilots have no conscience is just wrong.

      [1] http://www.spiegel.de/internat...

    80. Re:Drone It by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      Drone piolots have no doubt done somethings history won't look kindly on but so has basically every fighting man using whatever technology and tactics. Sure maybe some just do it for the pay check or lack of other options but most of the people that enlist in our volunteer armed services have some conviction about defending the nation.

      I will challenge, "most". How would we know if their motivation was the defense of the nation or if they just needed a job and their best option was to enlist? And defense of the nation from what? The US hasn't fought a war in defense of the nation since the 19th century.

      Let's stop romanticizing the military. This isn't GI Joe who was drafted off his daddy's farm to go fight the Fuhrer. This is a "professional military", remember? And there's a word for professional military. Mercenary. Just look at how eager these guys are to go work for Blackwater, or "Xe" or "Academi" or whatever the private contractor army is calling itself today.

      I'm kind of surprised that the same people who look sideways with suspicion at anything Big Government does also romanticize the enforcement arm of that Big Government by becoming military groupies or police buffs. Every member of the military and every member of every police force in the United States fits the dictionary definition of "bureaucrat", plus they get to use deadly force. Remember that the next time you hear someone talking about those damn "government bureaucrats".

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    81. Re:Drone It by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      The Harrier can't meaningfully hover with a full weapons load, either, and it really only takes off vertically at air shows. STOVL is short for "short takeoff, vertical landing". They've been planning ramped takeoffs and vertical landings at sea from the beginning, just like the Harrier uses.

      I'm not fond of the F-35, but don't ascribe features to its (at least as problematic) predecessor that aren't there.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    82. Re:Drone It by swb · · Score: 1

      and yet 9999 times of 10000 or more they continue to treat the enemy humanely and frequently place themselves in grater danger to do so.

      But do they do it for humanitarian reasons or fear of punishment?

      I don't know how true to life it was, but in "Lone Survivor" when the 3 SEALs capture two random Afghanis they have all manner of animated discussion about what to do with them -- if they let them go, they will likely get a whole bunch of Taliban after them, if they kill them or tie them up so they can't get away, they might end up with some kind of war crimes problem.

      During their debate, it wasn't "what kind of a humanitarian are you" it was "Do you want to go to Leavenworth for the rest of your life?"

      Frankly, I think they probably should have just executed them. It was pretty clear they were aligned with the enemy (one guy was carrying a two-way radio, and I don't think Afghanistan has a CB club) and the results of not killing them were kind of as predicted -- a company-size band of Taliban chasing them down and trying to kill them, succeeding at killing two of them.

      It's hard to think of any other military campaign that would have allowed an operation to get compromised like that when snuffing the enemy would have been so effective.

      Maybe a better future compromise is a little autoinjector they could carry with a strong dose of a short-acting (eg, 4-6 hours) but powerful sedative/hypnotic. Nighty-night for them and when they wake up, the soldiers are long gone.

    83. Re:Drone It by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      Someone needed to talk to Boeing's crew that handles the designs of the AH-1 and UH-1. Lots of parts commonality, increasing as time goes on, and good at their roles, but different shapes for different missions.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    84. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And really dogfighting is a thing of the past, our missiles are excellent right now, and only getting better, you should rarely if ever get into dogfighting range, and if you do, our missiles should still be able to perform in a dogfight, a missile is far more agile than any fighter (or should be), there isn't any reason we can't make a missile that can be fired in a tight turn and hit the guy on your tail.

    85. Re:Drone It by amorsen · · Score: 1

      Yes, the main problem with the modern attack aircraft is that no one wants to buy a light bomber, even though that is what they need.

      The F-35 has lousy payload for a light bomber, especially when stealthy and supercruising (nothing mounted on the external hardpoints). The alternatives are about equally crappy, except for the F-22 which is completely hopeless. At least the F-22 has a role where it is supposedly good, when it isn't busy killing its pilot.

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      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    86. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Drone pilots don't seem to have much of a conscience either. They are far removed from the action, the consequences, less involved.

      If I were up against drones my first response would be infiltrators who would target the drone pilots families, the shops they go to, the people they owe money to, people who owe them money etc etc. Go Kaiser Sose on them. If they want to hide behind drones let them face the consequences.

      That's not true. By all accounts, the drones loiter over a given area for extended periods of time, with teams taking over the work in shifts, like a regular job. These people are ordered to observe and get to know the people and the area, so they can spot when things are different. They have high resolution video that allows them to watch people going about their daily lives. The observers often remark they know more about what's going on in their area then they do in their own house.

      When someone dies due to a rocket they launched, or an attack they observed, they often remark that they have to witness it in gruesome detail, and continue to do so, after the fight is over. That is actually much worse than most pilots, who don't have to personally witness the results of their strike runs.

    87. Re:Drone It by amorsen · · Score: 1

      Lots of g's were useful back when missiles were severely g-limited on turns. You could simply turn away when the missile got close. Unsurprisingly, missile developers discovered this and made the missiles better at turning.

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    88. Re:Drone It by TheCarp · · Score: 2

      I honestly don't think a real "organized" war of that kind is likely to ever happen again. We have long since passed the point where the major actors are just too big and powerful to risk war with eachother, so they engage in little more than proxy wars against eachother's minor interests.

      Even that doesn't really seem to describe the present day since the major powers major interests are so aligned they don't even proxy war with eachother so much as with the fallout from the decades worth of mess they made with their proxy wars.

      Maybe some small time actors will have "real wars" with each other, or maybe we will have one against a small time actor, but, I suspect anything even as large as a US/Iran war is all but impossible at this point.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    89. Re:Drone It by dpidcoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They are far removed from the action, the consequences, less involved.

      What an odd thing to tell yourself. On the contrary, the drone often watches the target for hours before the strike, and then sticks around after the strike doing damage estimations. You're trying to tell me that that's "far removed" compared to an F18 dropping a bomb from high altitude at near supersonic speed and being basically out of visual range by the time the thing impacts?

    90. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yet, the perpetrators were able to DRIVE through the gates unchecked and wander the bases with their weapons in FULL OPEN VIEW.

      Don't comment on a subject matter you know nothing about.

      All of those were done by people authorized to be on base. There are secure areas of military bases, but it is not as if people and vehicles are searched at the gate, and there are checkpoints at every building and road crossing. The bases listed are huge installations with a mix of military and civilian personnel in the tens of thousands. Fort Hood is a little over 200K acres. If you have a pass and authority to be in an area, nothing can stop you from gaining access.

      1) The Fort Hood is an Army base and the shooting was done by an Army officer at a medical facility on base. He brought his personal handgun, which was purchased off base.

      2) The Washington Navy Yard shooting was done by a civilian contractor at an administrative building he was assigned. He brought in a disassembled shotgun in a bag, went to the building and assembled in a bathroom before the incident.

      3) The Naval Station Norfolk shooting was done by a civilian contractor that took a gun from a guard after a struggle, when he was confronted by Navy security personnel about his presence on the pier.

    91. Re:Drone It by Dins · · Score: 0

      Extremely well played...

    92. Re:Drone It by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      USAF should start hiring trolling kiddies from online games. No conscience issues there.

    93. Re:Drone It by Crashmarik · · Score: 0

      Is there a minus -1 knows nothing prejudiced mod ?

    94. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 2

      This makes for attacks that are much easier on the civilian population then normal bombing, because you can skip the night when the girl and her boyfriend are enjoying themselves, but it makes for very stressed out drone pilots.

      Why?

      Because they know they just made a fairly normal teenage girl a homeless orphan. If they have kids they probably sympathize with the poor guy who is being deceived by his daughter even if his day job is terrorist mastermind.

      Fighter pilots and bomber pilots don't actually need to dehumanize the enemy. They simply never bother to learn that enemy is, in fact, human. Those people are lines on a targeting screen that are only occasionally even human shaped (most of the time they're tank-shaped, or house-shaped, because you don't get close enough to see make out details like people). Drone pilots have to do it 24/7.

    95. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you need either remote control (could be jammed) or autonomous decision making (difficult AI problem, can't distinguish military/civ).

      At the moment we've been using drones primarily against backwater nations or insurgents with virtually no air force or electronic warfare (aside from the one that went down in Iran). It'll take a lot more development before drones are ready for air superiority roles.

    96. Re:Drone It by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 2

      Maybe they could just ask the enemy to fly to a better altitude before starting the dogfight?

    97. Re:Drone It by amiga3D · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's pretty much the same sentiment they had just before the Vietnam war. And then took a big bloody nose from the inferior Migs. The worst thing about the F-35 though is it's a single engine fighter. In war redundancy is everything. When the engine on the 35 gets damaged the only option is to pull the ejection handle and hope for the best. That's a hell of an expensive lawn dart. If you want to see an example of how bad it can be just look at the F-16. It's nickname IS lawn dart. When the F-15 loses an engine they turn around and go back to base. That's how you live to fight another day. After the debacle with the F-22 and the F-105 I can't believe they bought another single engine fighter.

    98. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Screw that terrible movie, Toys did it 20 years earlier.

    99. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      The civilian to combatant casualty ratio is lower for the drone war then for literally any other method invented.

      As a non-pilot I can't tell you why those weddings were picked. I suspect there could be a number of factors -- maybe the target only leaves hiding to go to weddings, maybe the strike was considered important enough to do immediately regardless of the collateral damage, maybe this was the only time three bigwig terrorists were all going to be together, maybe some idiot fucked up the coordinates (this happens in warfare), etc. Hell maybe somebody else bombed the wedding and counted on everyone to assume it was the drone war (this kind of thing happens in Pakistan).

      I can tell even those wedding strikes tend to be fairly low carnage. I was at a wedding on Saturday, and you could have killed dozens with a single grenade on the dance floor, and yet casualties from wedding strikes are almost always limited to one or two cars. Moreover there haven;t been any particularly recently. The last I could find was December of 13.

    100. Re:Drone It by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      It depends. If you can pay for the Mazda 3 with taxpayers money then hell yes!

    101. Re:Drone It by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      It's not going to solve the problem that the plane itself is physically unable to fly the moves required in a dogfight. The pilot isn't the limiting factor.

    102. Re:Drone It by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      They've been trying to replace the B-52 for decades and it's still the best they have. Maybe they should just make a modern version? I can't believe corrosion isn't more of a problem with them.

    103. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't sound like it's even capable of reaching those limits when the pilot complains about lack of maneuverability.

    104. Re:Drone It by swb · · Score: 1

      In reality, the only way to fight a war like ISIS is to do what was done to Germany -- level all cities (and all buildings in the city) that even are rumored to have insurgents. Without the commitment to do actual, yucky warfare that completely breaks all resistance... half-ass measures just creates emboldened enemies (think "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!".)

      This has been the weakness of the US military since at least Viet Nam and possibly even Korea.

      The only way to "win" a war is to defeat the people, not just the army or the fighters. Sure, it's ugly because you kill a lot of people who don't really deserve to die in any conventional moral sense. But not doing it just causes you to lose lives for nothing.

    105. Re:Drone It by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      1990? I was living off base in the Air Force in 1964, and before that I lived in base housing that was completely open on public streets.

    106. Re:Drone It by Holi · · Score: 1

      Hell, it's been the weakness of every country that fought in WW2.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    107. Re:Drone It by AdamStarks · · Score: 2

      Whoosh!

    108. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Drone pilots are actually burning out due to extreme crisis of conscious issues.

      Never send a summer newb to do an oldfag's job.

    109. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do we have a $1 trillion plane? I'm not saying it's a lot of money

      so, not a member of the Tea Party I take it :-p

    110. Re:Drone It by vux984 · · Score: 1

      So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.

      The relative strength of a super power to a terrorist network is such that that the terrorist targets are always weak. ALWAYS.

      A terrorist network poses no existential threat to the United States whatsoever. At best they pose a limited threat to individual civilians roughly on the same scale as bathtub related accidents.

      In other words, we aren't fighting WW2 here, we can well afford to take the high moral road, and attack harder targets.

      The art of using troops is this:
      When ten to the enemy's one, surround him;
      When five times his strength, attack him;
      If double his strength, divide him;
      If equally matched you may engage him;
      If weaker numerically, be capable of withdrawing;
      And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him, .for a small force is but booty for one more powerful.

      Exactly.

      Except we're already beyond the ten to the enemy's one. More like 1000 to the enemy's one. So we can simply surround and arrest them like criminals. We certainly don't need to be bombing weddings like cowards.

      Bombing weddings is what *terrorists do*... because they don't have a massive force advantage. They can only inflict damage against against us in the most indirect ways; in small numbers; against extremely soft targets. THEY are the ones looking to elude their enemy (us) and withdraw.

      There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all Hell. -- William Tecumseh Sherman

      Yes. War is hell. Bombing weddings is not war; although its also pretty hellish.

      I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country. -- Patton

      So how many weddings do we need to bomb before we've won? Or are we actually just creating more enemies to fight faster than we're killing them?

      It is not cowardly to use one's military advantages.

      It's not necessarily cowardly. But it absolutely can be. In this case: it is.

      If I have a gun that shoots a mile and yours only shoots a half a mile, why should I close to a half a mile, I should stay out of your range and kill you when you are easy prey and can't shoot back.

      Ok. Now, if you have a gun that shoots a mile, and I'm not carrying a gun at all, because I'm just a regular joe at a wedding? What do you think you gain by shooting at me? I'm not even your target.

      Now, that said, lets talk about your target. The guy with a gun that only shoots half a mile. That is 7000 miles from your border. Do you really need to shoot him at a wedding? Or can you wait until he's at least close enough that maybe he might eventually be in range?

      Its not like he's a mile away and closing on you. If you don't shoot him now, he's gonna get you. Because that's not what's happening. He's a 7000 miles away, at a wedding, and if you don't shoot him now, he's gonna be 7000 miles away tomorrow too. So you can bide your time and hit him some other time. He's not even remotely even close to being anywhere near able to strike the US... so what's the panic rush?

    111. Re:Drone It by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      Drone pilots are actually burning out due to extreme crisis of conscious issues. They work 9-5 killing people, then go home to their families.

      I wonder if some of this is due to their inability to decompress with people in similar situations, like the armed forces can do with each other at meals or in the barracks.

      It almost sounds like going home to their family every night, while certainly desirable, could perversely be keeping them from coping mechanisms that come along with being physically and mentally (attentionally ?) present with others in the same situation, e.g., during training/combat.

    112. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Probably pretty badly for the JSF. F-22 is supposed to be the one doing the dogfighting.

      But a) they're only planning on buying 150 (and only 50 by 2020), while we already have 115 and will end up with 2,400+ and b) if the plan works dogfighting is irrelevant.

      The thing that sucks about spending $1 Trillion on combat aircraft is it's a fucking lot of money you could have used for any number of other things, but the advantage is that you have a $Trillion worth of combat aircraft. At 16-to-1 odds, with better trained pilots (we typically have several hundred hours on-type, the Russians don;t have that kind of budget), you don't need a bette plane to win.

    113. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 2

      Good luck detecting it at 30,000 feet with your eyeballs. Particularly in bad weather.

      If the electronic warfare suite they have works like they're planning, then they'll have blown you up before you get into position.

    114. Re:Drone It by microbox · · Score: 1

      The plane will deform at something around 15g.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
    115. Re:Drone It by bradrum · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think the A-10 (or even a replacement) is meant to go head to head with the best AA systems that the enemy has to offer. It is meant to loiter around behind the front until called in for close air support. I am guessing that some kind of air defense suppression unit would precede the A-10 type aircraft so that it could operate and do its job.

      I understand that AA systems are much more mobile and have higher performance than when the A-10 was designed so maybe a replacement that has higher performance or is harder for modern AA to target would be in order. But to say that close in air support aircraft are obsolete seems a pretty brash thing to say.

    116. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If your CO handed you a photo of a nondescript building and said "Intel says a terrorist cell is hiding out here, hit it with a hellfire" What would you do? You would probably do what most of us would take them at their word and follow the order.

      and there you have the fundamental problem with modern militaries, they require you to outsource the decision of if and when to kill to a big bureaucracy, worse a big bureaucracy headed by politicians

      that kind of blind obedience is necessary when you're in a battle with people actively shooting at you,
      in any other circumstance it's utter abomination, and yet the military actively pursues that crazy irresponsible attitude

    117. Re:Drone It by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      The F-35's wings are too small for the mass of the plane. It can't pull enough G's to black out a pilot.

      That is because the wings are too small. It is because the F-35 has too much mass, which is because it tries to do too much (badly).

    118. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely
      the ability to kill with impunity falls under the heading aboslute power

    119. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And the F-16 is such a terrible design that it only sold 4,500 units to 24 countries. Much worse then the twin-engine F-18 sales of 1,480 to 8 countries.

      Moreover it's hard to do twin engine VTOL, and the Marines insisted. They probably should not have been humored (or should have been humored by being allowed to by their own, special, Marine Corps plane), but once that decision was made twin engines went out the window.

    120. Re:Drone It by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 2

      March 2014: Norfolk, WV - the World's LARGEST Naval base.

      West Virginia doesn't even have access to the ocean or even a very large river, much less a deep water port sufficient for a Naval base.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    121. Re:Drone It by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

      Here are the real specs.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    122. Re:Drone It by Ecuador · · Score: 4, Funny

      See, that's the problem -- as long as they see themselves in either role, it won't work. Perhaps if they were isolated at youth, taught to fight each other, and then misled into thinking it was just a really good video game or simulation of some sort. I bet they could make a movie out of that.

      No, it would suck as a movie, Hollywood would completely miss the point of the story. Better if it was a book. Or even a series of books - you could even narrate it from different points of view.

      --
      Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    123. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a multi-role platform. Think something to replace the A-10 and F-18 all in one airframe.

    124. Re:Drone It by whodunit · · Score: 2

      [citation needed]

    125. Re:Drone It by schnell · · Score: 2

      I have a car, but the new Mazda has a 10hp more powerful engine. Should I sell my Mazda 3 for $5000 and buy a new Mazda 3 for $21,000?

      It's a fair question in the context of Mazdas. It is a much less clear answer in the context of should I buy a F-16 for $100 million that gets me a 20% chance of being shot down in an engagement vs. a F-35 that gives me a 5% chance of being shot down for $350 million.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
    126. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I once did it accidentally. The city cop manning (for some reason) just waved me in with no ID check and without giving me a base pass. The error was discovered as I left several hours later by the MP at the other gate.

    127. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sounds to me like our current crop of F16 fighters are superior

      Well, why not just purchase an upgrade of the F-16V? Maybe even have a version with the conformal fuel tanks like the "Super Viper" we offered up to India... but maybe hang a new data bus on it and leverage some of the F-35 technology.

    128. Re:Drone It by LDAPMAN · · Score: 1

      If it's so easy why don't you just run right over there and arrest them? Yea..your talking out your ass.

    129. Re:Drone It by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      During the Vietnam War strategists declared that dogfighting is dead, and the F-4 was originally not equipped with a gun at all. Many of them were shot down.

      Though we have gone 30 years of wars and conflicts without Americans in a real dogfight, so perhaps it is. But the lessons of Vietnam means that all American fighters will have guns for the foreseeable future.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    130. Re:Drone It by LDAPMAN · · Score: 2

      You are correct. There are other assets that will have negated the AA before the A-10 hits the area.

    131. Re:Drone It by kosmosik · · Score: 1

      > The way a drone strike works is a drone loiters on station for
      > weeks on end. During this time the drone's pilots figure out who
      > is in the house when [...] the Girl Scouts [...] teenage daughter
      > has a boyfriend who sneaks in [...] civilian population [...]

      Seriously? Do you belive this? It looks like some soap opera TV drama applied to military actions. I don't think it works like that. For what I see nobody cares about the civilians unless it would be a publicity stunt. For what I see the drone killing policy is just plain chaos fueled by special forces intel - and the chain of command - general the target is in the building - just blow it the fuck up and we have a success, then the order goes down and further down and then it is the sole drone pilot who is given an order to blow something up - but he has objections, maybe the said, hypothetical boyfriend is right now banging, but he has orders - what to do? Run it up the chain of command to the general who has his orders from the intel? Are you joking? Etc.

      What you have written would be true if secret intel operations were flawless but for what we know it is just a chaotic bullshit. Man USA invaded another country based on wrong/or misleading political interpretations of wrong intel (I am wrigting about Iraq and Bush administration) and also USA is a big mess of Xteen top secret organisations/agencies and employing about a milion people with access to top secret information...

      In general this whole machine powers decisions to use drone killing. Paranoia I would say.

    132. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "kill people then see you kids" was proposed as a reason for burn-out. It sounds a lot nicer than the much more likely reason: no opportunity for pay raises or rank advancement with the job.

      I suspect (but don't really know) that there may be a lot of overtime requirements with the job, such that it isn't actually a 9-5 job.

    133. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck that homophobe and fuck you for mentioning him!

    134. Re:Drone It by khallow · · Score: 1

      I honestly don't think a real "organized" war of that kind is likely to ever happen again. We have long since passed the point where the major actors are just too big and powerful to risk war with eachother, so they engage in little more than proxy wars against eachother's minor interests.

      I would love for that to be true. But I'm reminded of a maxim of Napoleon, "To have good soldiers, a nation must always be at war." Substantial military advantage will accrue to countries which fight on a regular basis. And if that advantage becomes great enough, then we may well see the real "organized" war of which you speak.

    135. Re:Drone It by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      A Citizen's Dividend of 17% would end poverty.

      If I am elected, I promise a Citizen's Dividend of $1-million per month straight from the Central Bank. Vote for me and we can all be millionaires!

    136. Re:Drone It by currently_awake · · Score: 2

      The turn speed of the F35 is not limited to what the pilot can survive. It's limited because the aircraft is overweight. That is also the reason it has shorter range (smaller fuel tanks) and lower payload (less bombs and missiles).

    137. Re:Drone It by dinfinity · · Score: 1

      "perversely"? Really?

      Are you calling their conscience kicking in a bad thing? What you call 'coping' I call 'being morally numbed by life threatening situations'.

      War is a bitch. If people are shooting at you, a lot of morality goes out the door (and a large part of the population won't blame you for that). Clearly, these drone pilots do not have such an excuse.

    138. Re:Drone It by Fallen+Kell · · Score: 2

      I am also curious (haven't looked) as to what the flight/fight profile of the F-35 is in the first place. if it's Air Superiority, then that usually means higher altitudes where there may be a better advantage. Anything else appears to be a whole lot of incompetence in design.

      It is everything... It was designed to need to be air superiority, air-to-ground assault platform, close combat support air-to-ground, stealth, and VTOL....

      In other words they government wants it to do everything, and as such it can't do any of them as well as something designed to do a specific mission type would be able to do.

      --
      We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
    139. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes it is, You can walk on to naval station norfolk right now. Just follow the shore line in willoughby bay at low tide, high tide if you dont mind waist deep water.

    140. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nor _do_ the kids who go to college. If you'd have gone to college you'd have known how to conjugate verbs. Say what you want about Muslims, they know how to speak Allah's Arabic correctly.

    141. Re:Drone It by MrTester · · Score: 1

      Dont fool yourself.
      People have thought that the carnage of every major conflict was enough to prevent it from happening again. It never does. Some group always thinks they have the key to an easy victory which, right or wrong, commits them to a series of actions.

      China is on track to meet Americas military power by 2020. I just saw a story somewhere (sorry, Im not going to dig it up) about how the majority of Chinese assume that war with America is inevitable. The Russians will be more than happy to keep Europe to occupied to help. The Ukraine is a sideshow. They just wanted to secure their naval base in preparation for whats coming.

      Im not normally a conspiracy theory type nut job, but I really think its coming and its going to be ugly.

    142. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That means that F-35 should be able to fly around at Mach 1.6 with being targeted by the enemy (who don't even know where it is), while firing off it's missiles whenever an enemy aircraft gets into range.

      The F-22 was already meant to do that, right? Perhaps the F-35 was meant to be able to fill in the air superiority role for a lower price per airframe, but that's looking increasingly unlikely.

    143. Re:Drone It by gnupun · · Score: 0

      The same could be said of pretty much every advancement. Guys with clubs are cowards because the barehanded guys don't have a chance. Guys with swords are cowards because the guys with clubs don't stand a chance. Guys with arrows are cowards because the guys with swords across the field don't stand a chance. So on and so forth.

      You seem to agree to the philosophy that:
      weapons are of much greater importance than the soldier using it

      If that's true, why aren't the inventors (or IP creators) of these weapons not rulers of countries or at least receive a sizable royalties from the spoils of war? Don't these weapons win wars? Why do administrator type politicians and capitalist businessmen divvy up lion's share of a country's output and war profit, leaving only scraps for others?

      This is especially true where today's drone operators are not much more than video game players wielding very powerful weapons.

    144. Re:Drone It by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 1

      again, assuming intel was right, and the place was an ammo stash and not a madrasa full of little ones.

      Who says those two are mutually exclusive?

      Because if there was a rule about not bombing a madrasa full of little ones, that would be a strong incentive to also use it as an ammo stash. Of course an incentive doesn't mean it's often or even likely. Worse still, the evidence might all be vaporized and you might have nothing more than circumstantial "video of secondary explosions" claims.

      So in a war you'll probably have to settle for not knowing whether the mosque or madrassa actually had ammo, combatants, worshippers or some mix of all three.

    145. Re: Drone It by elmer+at+web-axis · · Score: 1

      By the time a drone was able to notify a operator that it was being targeted it'd be blown out the sky. Flying a drone in a dogfight is like playing a FPS over dialup while downloading against someone who's on a LAN directly connected to the server.

    146. Re:Drone It by khallow · · Score: 1

      Especially when having three to four F-16s in the air may be more of a military advantage than having one F-35.

    147. Re:Drone It by flink · · Score: 1

      Drones with weapons aren't autonomous.

      While not drones per se, there are ground based weapons systems that are capable of automatically engaging human targets. Whether they are deployed in this configuration is probably something that the users aren't advertising.

    148. Re:Drone It by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      When is slashdot going to fix character vomit... "ââ¦â¦â(TM)"

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    149. Re:Drone It by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      And that basically sums up our current military strategy in a nutshell. We don't want to just beat the other side, we want to make sure there was never even a contest in the first place.

      The problem is when you rely entirely on toys to do that you're also simultaneously accepting the huge risk of someone else not playing the same game as you. Just look at Iraq/Afghanistan. We've got something like a 12:1 kill ratio, body armor that routinely saves soldiers' lives outright, weapons that can kill insurgents from far beyond their weapons effective range, and their way of dealing with this is to just keep leaving bombs everywhere for us to stumble into.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    150. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except the problem of the Middle East is Islam itself. Fundamental Islam is a pretty straightforward reading of the Koran, it's doesn't twist and turn itself into metaphors or other possible meanings.... but no politician wants to touch this elephant in the room.

      I read somewhere more books get translated into Spanish each and every year, than into Arabic for decades or even centuries combined... and that is part of the problem.

      People want to talk about moderate Islam this and that, but the reality is that the region once had a golden age, but that was long ago and now it's been nearly a millenium since then iirc. Religion has stifled everything there.

      Maybe total war is a solution. But it would have to be war with the muslim world. And unless the west is prepared to replace their Islam with "something" among the common people, fundamentalism is going to rule.

      IMO, the best thing would be to economically contain them and let them kill each other. Why get involve for little to no direct benefit?

    151. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Radar Cross Sections cited (X-band):

      F-22A Front Aspect = 0.0001 m^2, Side and Rear Aspect = 0.01 – 0.001 m^2

      F-35A Front Aspect = 0.001 m^2, Side and Rear Aspect = 0.01 m^2;

      PAK-FA All Aspect = 0.01 m^2;

      Su-35-1 Front Aspect= 2 m^2.

    152. Re:Drone It by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Don't forget... They didn't build the A-10 and decide to put the GAU-8 in it - they took the GAU-8 and gave it wings. It's hard to beat that kind of focused purpose.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    153. Re:Drone It by vux984 · · Score: 1

      If it's so easy why don't you just run right over there and arrest them?.

      Don't be an asshat. Its not easy to capture or arrest the people shoplifting where I work. I have no illusions that it would be easy to capture terrorists in a foreign country.

      But we don't need to bomb them at weddings just because capturing/killing them other ways would be harder. They aren't THAT much of a threat that we need to do that. Just as we don't shoot shoplifters in the back when they run when we try to arrest or capture them. It's not necessary; they simply aren't that dangerous.

      Likewise terrorists 7000 miles away pose no real credible threat to us; we can afford to wait. There is no impending doom to the United States.

    154. Re:Drone It by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      The stealth on an F35 only works for certain frequencies of radar. When (not if) everyone switches to variable frequency radar that advantage will be gone (no more stealth). At that point the US will be stuck with a massively expensive low performance short range combat aircraft, and no money to rectify the problem.

    155. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or maybe it's actually a submarine (like 007's Lotus). It will pull lots of g's when it hits the water. Remember, it's a secret weapon.

      So this is how you do the perfect stealth air frame! Hey, boss I have an idea to fix the F-22 for good!

    156. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I have a gun that shoots a mile and yours only shoots a half a mile, why should I close to a half a mile, I should stay out of your range and kill you when you are easy prey and can't shoot back.

      There it is, folks, evidence that the parent has little understanding of - or possibly hasn't even read - what he's just quoted.

      If you look, if you try to understand, you'll realise that Sun Tsu actually gave guidelines for how you should create your tactics and strategies, not on whether you should let your opponents engage you in a fair fight. Fuck, his rules are structured to educate you in how you should deny your opponents a fair fight.

      It's worth noting that, by justifying how the US military acts using the guidelines above, you've also justified how the insurgents act in the very same rules: And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him.

      As you say:

      The American Military has advantages, it uses them. It is not cowardly to use one's military advantages. If I have a gun that shoots a mile and yours only shoots a half a mile, why should I close to a half a mile, I should stay out of your range and kill you when you are easy prey and can't shoot back.

      Well, if you have such great advantages, why should I stand in the middle of a field and let you drop bombs on me? Why shouldn't I go and hide in areas full of innocents? Because it's cowardly to hide where you won't shoot?

      It's equally cowardly to drop a bomb on me from well outside my range of engagement.

      So basically, you can argue all you like but you're not going to talk the enemy into engaging in a fight they can't win: to do so would be stupid.

    157. Re:Drone It by meglon · · Score: 1

      Yeh, that's bullshit. What accrues are projects like this that are nothing more than tax payer money giveaways to weapons makers, massive national debt, and the broken bodies of veterans who fight in those little wars along the way. What we need to do is have a forced draft of neo-cons and when they want a war, we send them in as battalions of grunts on the first day as cannon fodder. That's the only way these sick fucking twisted warmongers will ever get an idea of what war actually is.

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    158. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It certainly would be if the Australian government were funding it, but since they're not your statement appears somewhat irrelevant.

    159. Re:Drone It by subreality · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The idea was better stuff, quicker and cheaper. It turned out - like some of the lessons Boeing learned with the 787 - that agile development may work great at Facebook but it's a train wreck when applied to aerospace, military systems and gigantic procurements. Oops.

      One of the basic ideas of agile dev is to get a partially-working system in the field ASAP. Doing so lets you figure out much sooner (10% into a project) that the design requirements are wrong, and that you need to rethink what you're doing. In this case, the loop wasn't closed - there were plenty of early signs that it was going wrong, but the project just kept going forward without reevaluating the basic requirements (VTOL being the most obvious case).

      I don't think that means agile dev won't work for aerospace generally. It's more an indication that the organizations involved (governments and military contractors) are too heavy to handle an agile process: imagine trying to go back to congress once a month to get the requirements updated based on dev feedback. Smaller, independent companies like SpaceX can manage a much faster, cheaper cycle on the space side, and I think it's possible for a new military aero supplier to do the same.

      There were also plenty of f***ups in assumptions the program made that were only really recognizable in hindsight, like the fact that trying to mesh the Marines' requirement for a V/STOL aircraft with the traditional designs for the Air Force and Navy hobbled the plane's performance for all three constituencies.

      That wasn't only seen in hindsight. It's obvious that adding complicated, heavy components to something that's supposed to be fast and reliable is going to create problems. It was more of a "let's see how well we can apply modern materials and design to make this work" kind of thing... Initial tests showed it was possible, but a bit further into the program it was clear that it was still too much of a tradeoff to be worthwhile.

    160. Re:Drone It by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      The F35 can't do ground attack (A10), it has no armour. It's not really good for long range patrols because it's got a short range. It's not a good strike fighter because it's got such a tiny weapons load. It's no good at dogfighting because it's underpowered and has small wings.

    161. Re:Drone It by meglon · · Score: 1

      If it works

      ...and there;'s absolutely no sign that it will. It's past due years, massively inflated costs, and THE PILOT says the thing is a piece of shit. I'll take his opinion over your hope and prayer that it may someday, in some mythical time of unicorns and fairies, that it actually works. Until then, all it is is a fucking waste of money by fucking cowards.

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    162. Re:Drone It by khallow · · Score: 1

      China is on track to meet Americas military power by 2020.

      Just no. Maybe 2040-2050. But not that close in the future.

    163. Re:Drone It by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      WWII Japan was committed to actual yucky warfare.
      WWII Germany was committed to actual yucky warfare.
      Neither were squeamish about it.

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    164. Re:Drone It by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      Not if you use directional uplink to your satellite, then all the enemy sees is an encrypted sat downlink with a 50 mile footprint.

    165. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A valid point, although an odd way of pointing out that Norfolk Naval Base is in Virginia, not West Virginia.

    166. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's very hard to keep a conviction about defending the nation when you're sitting in downtown Las Vegas and killing brown people by remote control half a world away.

    167. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just imagine what $1 trillion could have done if spent on infrastructure, education and social services, instead of a useless killing toy.

    168. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And by 20 years earlier, you mean seven years after?

    169. Re:Drone It by HuguesT · · Score: 1

      The tests were conducted between 10,000 and 30,000 feet according to the article. Hardly low altitude.

    170. Re:Drone It by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 2

      > The F-35 seems to have a maximum g-load of 9g,
      > while the PAK-FA has one of over 9g.

      I'm not sure that's a big deal though. It's not too hard to build an airframe that can pull better than 9g. The thing is, no one's really figured out how to build a *pilot* that can take more than 9 (positive) g's. That's the limit for sustained human g endurance; and that's with g-suits and special muscle training to force blood back into the brain.

      So until we remove the pilot from the aircraft entirely (And how far away from that are we, really?) 9g is pretty much the limit for *any* aircraft, no matter what the airframe itself could theoretically handle.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
    171. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They know exactly what they are up for.
      Or are these virtuoso pilots raised in isolation?

      Bullshit propaganda.

      "poor little ignorant kids"... What a load of crap excusing cowards doing cowards' bidding.

    172. Re:Drone It by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Well there is nothing conspiracy theorist involved in noting that China is working towards parity with the US, and are building fortifications in places like the Spratly Islands.

      China definitely could become a threat, especially in their own region, even without matching the US pound for pound.

      On the other hand, China having nuclear weapons for years means that a major war with them is still difficult to envision. It could happen, of course, but major wars between nuclear powers are very dangerous and leaders know that.

      China's increasing power could allow them to form a bloc, and the bigger danger from that is a resurgence of proxy wars like the Cold War had.

    173. Re:Drone It by trout007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I actually just made it up. Of course it can black out a pilot. I just wanted to see what score I would get.

      --
      I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
    174. Re:Drone It by Paul+Jakma · · Score: 1

      The "double-tap" bombings, where they wait and bomb the rescuers, are surely clear breaches of the laws of war. Those rendering humanitarian aid onto others - even fighters if hors de combat - are meant to be protected.

      It's an incredibly evil policy.

      See e.g. the "collateral damage" wikileaks Iraq video - watch it past the initial strike on the photographers. They wait and then shoot up a van that stops, a random passerby who stopped to give assistance - a good samaritan - and they were *executed* for it. Their children were also visible in the front of the van and (at a minimum) very badly injured by the AH64 heavy cannon fire.

      Evil, EVIL, **EVIL**.

      And did Obama do, he approved this tactic for use in Afghanistan with drone strikes.

      --
      I use Friend/Foe + mod-point modifiers as a karma/reputation system.
    175. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure the F-35 is more an attack and stealth craft, and the F-16 more a fighter / interceptor.

      It is important to note that air superiority isn't even on the Wikipedia description here, unlike the F-22, which is ludicrously dominant in air to air combat. It is not shocking that the F-16, a fighter, would have some advantages versus a multirole and attack craft.

      Note that F-22s are not being made anymore, because of a general feeling that air superiority is both expensive and already achieved in that area of combat. The F-35 is not meant to be the best dogfighter in the world.

    176. Re:Drone It by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      If that's true, why aren't the inventors (or IP creators) of these weapons not rulers of countries or at least receive a sizable royalties from the spoils of war? Don't these weapons win wars? Why do administrator type politicians and capitalist businessmen divvy up lion's share of a country's output and war profit, leaving only scraps for others?

      Wait... Are you saying that people who make weapons don't get paid a lot of money for their weapons? Because they do actually make a lot of money.

      Do they get to rule the whole country? Not as such, but I'm not sure what it has to do with anything. I think the point being made is that it is silly and counterproductive to be afraid to win a fight with a superior weapon just because the loser might call you a "coward". This is war, not a sporting contest. If you're not fighting a war to win it as quickly as possible, you're doing it wrong. Not to mention that you're condemning more people to more pain over a longer period of time just so you can be called "brave".

      Weapons are not of more importance than the soldier wielding them, but they do ensure that an otherwise evenly matched fight has a winner which is the person with the better weapon. Since that is the difference between victory and defeat, weapons are critical, albeit not in the absence of a controlling human.

    177. Re:Drone It by Hasaf · · Score: 1

      People were saying that shortly before WWI. It made sense, with the invention of the telegraph all the good things people say about the Internet were really happening for the first time. Major industries spanned borders, it was a period of true globalization. War had taken a back seat to commerce.

      Of course, those experts were wrong.

    178. Re:Drone It by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Nobody is trying to kill people at weddings. In fact, most of those scenarios would not have happened if there was intelligence it *was* a wedding. The only intel that is usually received is that some high value target was going to be there.

      Mistakes are made and perhaps too often. And that *is* a reason to reconsider the drone program. However, that's because it may become counterproductive to defeating the terrorists, not because it is "cowardly".

      A terrorist might actually be what used to be called "physically brave" in that they are willing to die or take harm for their cause without flinching. That's important, but they tend to be what is called "moral cowards", because their physical bravery is put to the use of evil.

      You can't call a drone pilot a physical coward in the same way. The drone is their weapon. Would you send lightly armored archers into a press of armored cavalry? Hell no. They'd get smashed and do no good. Their weapons are arrows and being light and maneuverable. They're not going to run at and hit knights over the head with their wooden bows or something. They'd get slaughtered.

    179. Re:Drone It by gnupun · · Score: 1

      Wait... Are you saying that people who make weapons don't get paid a lot of money for their weapons? Because they do actually make a lot of money.

      I'm not so sure about that. Iron Man may make billions from his military inventions, because it's a movie. In the real world, Tony Stark's inventions would make billions, but that money would go to the corporation hiring him, while Tony himself would only make between $200K to $1M max/year for his work.

      So my point is, the money goes to the businessmen running these weapon companies and to the govt who profit from winning wars using these weapons. But the person actually responsible for winning the war through good weapon-design makes diddly squat, relatively speaking.

    180. Re:Drone It by Optic7 · · Score: 1

      The same could be said of pretty much every advancement. Guys with clubs are cowards because the barehanded guys don't have a chance. Guys with swords are cowards because the guys with clubs don't stand a chance. Guys with arrows are cowards because the guys with swords across the field don't stand a chance. So on and so forth.

      You have to admit that drones are on an entirely different scale of inequality than your examples though. Unlike your examples, the person receiving a drone attack had absolutely zero chance to inflict any physical harm on the person executing the attack. That is not the case for pretty much any other scenario, even something as far fetched as tanks vs clubs.

    181. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why they should just hire sociopaths. They don't care about people, and generally have trouble fitting in and finding/holding jobs. It's a win win situation.

    182. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all Hell. -- William Tecumseh Sherman

      Hawkeye: War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.

      Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye?

      Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?

      Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.

      Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

    183. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I personally don't think you know what you're talking about but go ahead and blather on.../daughter

    184. Re:Drone It by silas_moeckel · · Score: 1

      But the pork all that pork, see it well be the one thing for everybody don't design/build 4 planes spend 10x on one.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
    185. Re:Drone It by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      It - like the military itself - is kind of a Federal jobs program. If you keep your existing jets and don't build new ones, then you lose the employees with the skills and experience needed to do the job. (Kind of like we may not be able to build new nuclear weapons if we wanted them because we haven't made them for so long and everyone with any experience has retired.)

      I find it interesting that we have to have the latest and greatest fighters out there, while our AWACS are 50 years old and our bombers are 60 years old. Neither system has been replaced, at least not with anything that lasted more than two decades and then got replaced or shelved.
      Heck, the F-16 itself is still in use 40 years later having seen newer fighters come and go. Apparently, the F-16 can hold it's own against an F-35. Imagine what 3 1/2 of them could do against one F-35.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    186. Re:Drone It by DerekLyons · · Score: 4, Informative

      One of the lessons that came out of this and the Zumwalt-class destroyer programs is that the military should stop trying to cram every feature into a program. While the proliferation of designs led to unwieldy logistics in the 60s, 70s, and 80s

      It did a whole hell of lot more than just lead to unwieldy logistics.

      It made managing training more costly and complex. If you have, say, a class of four ships with a unique sonar, you only need a couple of dozen new bodies a year max. But you still need a complete school suite with all the requisite simulators, instructors, and maintenance and support personnel. That raises costs considerably. When I was a 98/0 instructor to support 16 crews with 5 techs each, we maintained an office of 12 people (the number was set by the number of training specialties required, and one guy can know and do so much) just to run four classes a year of 6-8 students. And that was at the tail end of initial manning - when we still needed new or converted techs by the gross lot. Class numbers and sizes went down shortly after I left.

      The same is true for advanced training, unless you're lucky enough that the schools are located on the same base as the vessels. While that was true when I was a 98/0 tech... When I was an 88/2 tech, we initially had no advanced training on the OAG MK2/1 because there was no trainer in Charleston - the nearest was at the basic trainer near Norfolk. The program was nearly a decade old before they could get funding to convert an 88/1 (MK2/0) trainer to 88/2 (MK2/1).

      It vastly complicated manning for much the same reason... There were only about 200 88/2 techsat any given time, so all it took was a handful of guys unexpectedly getting out, or deciding to stay in, or becoming ineligible for sea duty, or losing their clearance or whatever to royally screw up the whole pipeline.

      I actually got to see both ends of that bell curve.

      After I graduated from 98/0 school here at Bangor, I ended up filling a warm body billet for a year (my expensive training going to waste) because 98/0 (a community of only sixty or so at the time) was running overmanned by about fifty percent. (My class of twelve alone would have overmanned the community for a year or two until enough boats reached the stage of construction where they needed bodies.) I ended up being converted to 88/2 and sent to Charleston.

      After my sea tour, I converted back from 88/2 to 98/0 and was on shore duty when the Navy desperately tried to get me to convert back. Their numbers had been wrong two years running, and average crew size had dropped to 5.8 - and the minimum to run a normal watch rotation without doubling up was 6. They'd started short cycling guys, and sending them on back-to-backs... but you can only do that so long before morale goes to hell in a handbasket, and more guys get out and your problem just gets worse. Norfolk was empty of spare bodies, Charleston was empty of spare bodies, King's Bay was empty of spare bodies... Little ol' me sitting up here at Bangor was literally the last warm body available. (But I ended up being medically ineligible for sea duty anyhow, and stayed out here.)

      It also compromises combat capabilities and planning... when I was in SUBLANT, they had 88/1 (C3) boats and 88/2 (C4B) boats, and the two missiles had different ranges, different numbers and sizes of warheads, and the missile capabilities were different. There wasn't always a spare boat of the right kind available, and you couldn't swap them one-for-one. It didn't matter which way you swapped, some capability was compromised either way.

      And that's just the SSBN force and doesn't even begin to address logistics problems, or the other support problems, or the maintenance problems, or... well, you get the picture. Multiply that by SSN's, FF's, DD's, and cruisers of a dozen different types and the problems I didn't even touch on and you have a hellaciously complex and expensive mess.

      The Navy shifted to having more common platforms starting with Ticonderoga's and Burke's for a lot of very good reasons.

    187. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because the stealthy F-35 can take out a squadron of F-16s at a distance the 16s can't target it and speed away.

    188. Re:Drone It by lgw · · Score: 1

      The S/VTOL version makes sense. It's an upgrade from the Harrier, and while it's a shitty air-to-air plane, a shitty bomber, and a shitty close air support plane, it's much better at all 3 roles than having no plane at all. For a VTOL role, that's what matters. For a standard runway plane, it's just evenly shitty at all roles,without much to redeem it (though it will do just fine against low-tech opponents even so).

      It's been called the Bradly Fighting Vehicle of fighters, and I think that's an apt comparison. OTOH, the BFV evolved into something quite useful, and who knows, this might too.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    189. Re:Drone It by mjwx · · Score: 1

      In reality, the only way to fight a war like ISIS is to do what was done to Germany -- level all cities (and all buildings in the city) that even are rumored to have insurgents. Without the commitment to do actual, yucky warfare that completely breaks all resistance... half-ass measures just creates emboldened enemies (think "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!".)

      I can only assume that you're fighting for ISIS, because hundreds of thousands of martyrs to the next generation is their wet dream.

      ISIS doesn't have cities. If you bomb the cities in the middle east ISIS will grow from an organisation of a few thousand to an organisation of millions because the alternative is to sit at home being slaughtered. ISIS is closer to a conventional enemy than any other terrorist organisation, they're trying to gain and hold ground, establish power using traditional means.

      They say "Americans are always ready to fight the last war" but it seems you're even further back than that. You dont remember that WWII wasn't won by bombing cities, it was won because the allies were a better alternative to Nazi rule. Carpet bombing is widely considered to be one of the biggest mistakes of WWII, its value to the war was questionable for the resources it consumed.

      Its your mindset that lead to the utter failures that were Vietnam and Iraq part II.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    190. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think they've just got a cell phone duct taped to a walkie talkie in there?

    191. Re:Drone It by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Originally, the F22 was to fill the air superiority role (and it does that better than any fighter ever made), and the F35 was the mish-mash of other roles. Everyone following this stuff knew the F35 wouldn't be great at any one particular role, but for dogfighting it was always a joke - and really, that was OK, as the F22 had its back if needed. But we stopped buying F22s way too soon, we don't have enough, and the huge R&D costs weren't spread across enough planes.

      The F35 is meant to be a replacement for the FA18. Many countries with a small airforce tend to use one type of jet, the FA18 is the first choice in multi-role fighters for those who can afford them.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    192. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      If nobody cared about civilians why are we killing less of them then in any previous campaign?

      I consider myself a leftist, but one of the things that is simply true about military policy is we don't get it. We run in at the last minute, notice a lot of death happening, and condemn the death as unprecedented Un-American evil without bothering to learn any of the precedents. We spend half our time condemning them for doing things that may or may not be stupid/evil/pointless/etc. (we really don't know), and the other half shoveling money on military retirees. And it's dumb.

      But we've got a lot of Professors, so we make it sound smart. To people who can't figure out we're clueless, that is.

    193. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The F-16 is more than agile in lower altitudes, because it was built to be a combination air/air air/ground fighter

      No, the F-16 was designed as a day-time, clear weather dog-fighter. It was deployed as a multi-role fighter and excelled as such.

    194. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Keep in mind that doctrine calls for F-22s to handle dogfights, and we've got 187 of those. That's more F-22s then combat aircraft all but 27 other air-forces, 10 of those are Allies, and the Vietnamese and Ukrainians beat the F-22 by 2 and one plane respectively. So it's not quite as extreme as it was before 'Nam.

    195. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Past due years and massively inflated costs are par for the course in government contracting. As is military conservatism pooh-pooing anything that isn't exactly like the last version with 10% more speed and/or boom. The Abrams Tank, for example, was widely derided as a ridiculous waste of money, easily detectable by the enemy due to the extremely hot exhaust plumes from it's brand new Gas Turbine (instead of Diesel) engine, and unreliable ceramic armor. The Marines refused to upgrade their M60s until the last possible minute. Then the Gulf War happened. Now the biggest reason anybody buys a non-Abrams tank is that they don't have the technology to replace said ceramic armor.

      In this case the pilot's testimony should not change your opinion. Everybody knew it sucked at dogfighting already.

    196. Re:Drone It by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

      It kind of sucks that this expensive new plane sucks at dogfighting, but honestly it's probably better to have all the other stuff except dogfighting. They've been saying it for years, but I think it's funally true. Dogfighting is obselete. Not to say that there will never be another dogfight in the future, I just don't think designing an aircraft around dogfighting makes sense anymore.

      You don't need to dogfight if your plane can go faster, and has better radar systems to see enemies and and shoot them done well before a dogfight ever takes place.

      That said, I've heard some disparaging comments about the true stealth profile of the F35, but that's another story.

      All I am saying is that lack of dogfighting ability is probably not a dealbreaker, if it performs in all the other areas. But it's entirely possible the F35 is still sucks and is a waste of money.

    197. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am pretty sure I read it. Was some sci-fi short.

    198. Re:Drone It by Beeftopia · · Score: 1

      The problem with drone pilots is there's no prestige in the job currently and no future outside the military with that training. It's not like a pilot who can take that training when he leaves the military and make a lucrative career out of it. And on top of that - there's no medals for bravery or heroism for a drone pilot, even if he does something that saves a platoon.

      It's a weird beast, the drone operator.

      Drones are absolutely essential and helped save a lot of lives, both American soldiers and "collateral damage" in acting as a long range gunsight with precision munitions. But it's probably got the least applicability on the outside.

    199. Re:Drone It by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

      Even if it were invisible to the human eye, that doesn't mean it is invisible to radar. Visibility in the visible light spectrum does not imply visibility in other light spectra.

    200. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Vulnerability to RADAR is a matter of debate. The side that says they're vulnerable doesn't say they're worthless and we shouldn't buy them, it says that we need to also buy these very nice Growlers that their employer just happens to have ready for production if the money's right.

      No money? Are you insane? This is America. If that particular nightmare scenario happened and it risked our boys lives Congress would order the President to buy the damn Growlers tomorow with a special appropriation.

    201. Re:Drone It by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      Oh I don't think any amount of carnage will ever be what prevents war. People have an amazing capacity to ignore it, that part is easy, there is a reason reporters became "embedded".

      What I do think is that anyone capable of actually building and fielding a truely modern army in a major engagement capacity is capable of doing the math and realizing what a stupid idea it is for him. I also think those same people can do the math and realize how insanely profitable the status quo is for everyone involved on a broad range of issues.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    202. Re:Drone It by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

      Are you going to be in a death race where the extra 10hp might be the difference between living and dying?

    203. Re:Drone It by greenbird · · Score: 2

      I honestly don't think a real "organized" war of that kind is likely to ever happen again. We have long since passed the point where the major actors are just too big and powerful to risk war with eachother, so they engage in little more than proxy wars against eachother's minor interests.

      Even that doesn't really seem to describe the present day since the major powers major interests are so aligned they don't even proxy war with eachother so much as with the fallout from the decades worth of mess they made with their proxy wars.

      Man are you out of touch with what's happening in the world. It's exactly that type of thinking which predominated prior to WW I and is considered a major contributing factor to it starting. Putin's rhetoric and brinkmanship likely has the risk of a major war closer now than it was during the cold war.

      --
      Who is John Galt?
    204. Re:Drone It by Antony+T+Curtis · · Score: 1

      Not only that, but no artificial limit to g. No pilot to keep conscious.

      You now need to write a drone AI that you trust with lethal weaponry or a remote control system that's unjammable.

      BAe Systems is looking at developing an autonomous prototype, called Taranis, which uses the SkyNet military communications satellite network to communicate to base. I believe the concept is that it flies by itself and executes orders transmitted to it and sending back surveillance data back.

      --
      No sig. Move along - nothing to see here.
    205. Re:Drone It by Rich0 · · Score: 1

      That's pretty much the same sentiment they had just before the Vietnam war. And then took a big bloody nose from the inferior Migs.

      Very true, but just because missiles weren't ready to take over in Vietnam doesn't mean that they aren't ready today.

      Vietnam also suffered from a lot of other problems. For one ROE - aircraft had to make visual identification before engaging, which basically negated any advantage the US aircraft even had. That and the general limited warfare thing which turned the whole theater into a meat grinder. Nobody was seriously bombing the bases the enemy aircraft were based at.

      Vietnam was a LONG time ago now, much longer ago today than WW2 was back during Vietnam. People were quoting Vietnam this and that in the first Gulf War, and it wasn't remotely like Vietnam.

      That said, unless the air force has some tricks up its sleeves that nobody knows about, the long-range missile capabilities of the US aren't really all that much better than anybody else's, which seems a bit crazy when they are relying on blowing up the bad buys before it comes down to a dogfight.

      After the debacle with the F-22 and the F-105 I can't believe they bought another single engine fighter.

      Well, the whole idea of the F-35 was that it was supposed to be the cheap replacement for the F-16, and hence the single engine. The problem was that they just tried to do too much with it, because heaven forbid that it isn't the absolute best in every category. By the time they really get it operational everybody will be using drones for this sort of thing anyway. Think about it - the mission of the F-35 is to be the bulk of the force, but not the aircraft you send in on the most critical air superiority missions (that is the role of the F-22). I'd think that would be the sort of thing you could easily use a drone for - take off, drop bombs, come back, and if AWACS spots enemy fighters either engage if you greatly overpower them, or just run and let the F-22s deal with them. Just have lots of ground crew taking care of the drones and you could basically have those things up in the air most of the time.

      I also don't think that dogfighting is the real threat here. I already mentioned long-range AA missiles, but SAMs are a big threat too. Russia has those SA-10s which as far as I understand are VERY capable. I have no idea how well stealth defeats them, but they're really bad news for aircraft in general. Maybe they're counting on cruise missiles taking them out.

    206. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      drones have no conscience

      It's only a matter of time.

    207. Re:Drone It by Patent+Lover · · Score: 1

      The real joke is that this thing was supposed to SAVE money. That's what the joint part was about. One aircraft for Air Force, Navy, Marines. The reality is they have 3 completely different aircraft ill suited for use by any of the service for a shitload of money.

    208. Re:Drone It by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 2

      There is a pretty good chance the F35 can beat the F16 in the air before a dogfight ever occurs. There is more to air-to-air combat than dogfighting, just like there is more to infantry combat than hand-to-hand combat. Ideally you want to win the fight before you get close enough to punch someone.

    209. Re:Drone It by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

      not if it was directional...

    210. Re:Drone It by vux984 · · Score: 1

      The only intel that is usually received is that some high value target was going to be there.

      That's not sufficient intel for a super power to drop a bomb on someone then; especially someone who really poses no real tangible threat.

      Mistakes are made and perhaps too often.

      Made too often, and admitted too rarely. Mistakes are usually rationalized. In this very thread we have an appeal to Sun Tzu and an argument that we must attack them where they are weak and that its entirely justified to bomb civilian weddings... somehow.

      because their physical bravery is put to the use of evil.

      Few conflicts should be framed in terms of 'good' and 'evil'. They have many very legitimate grievances; and they have committed many terrible actions. Same applies to us.

      In any case framing them as 'evil' in a thread about us drone striking weddings comes across as pretty oblivious.

      You can't call a drone pilot a physical coward in the same way.

      I don't. I call the US government cowardly. The people setting the policy and calling the shots. Not the people literally taking them. I don't think drone pilots are cowards, or unnecessary.

      But I do think strikes against civilian targets in foreign countries without a declaration of war ... well...
      I'm sure you can imagine what we'd call drone strikes against American soldiers attending weddings perpetrated by North Korea...

    211. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the other hand, sensors only go so far. To make things even worse people tend to make up things to fill in the gaps, as has been witnessed innumerable times where the operators are specifically looking for a reason to pull the trigger, and object will be turned into a threat, once the operator has convinced himself.

      People on site have much, much better grip on what's going on, and they get to deal with the consequences of their actions right there and then, in their faces, not via a keyhole / screen thousands of miles away.

    212. Re:Drone It by meglon · · Score: 1

      Oh not to worry... yet another test pilot saying the plane is a piece of shit hasn't changed my mind that it's a piece of shit... an expensive, useless, piece of shit, that can't fight, can't run, can't do what it was supposedly designed for... especially if it's raining.... that's bleeding taxpayer money because coward warmongers and neo-cons are scared of everyone, everything, and their shadow.

      Anyone who complains about government spending, and doesn't start with this piece of shit, is nothing more than a fucking hypocrite.

      Past due and massively inflated costs are the course for private companies stealing taxpayer money with impunity because of elected cowards.

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    213. Re:Drone It by Magius_AR · · Score: 1

      What we got was a fighter that can't dogfight, a strike aircraft with a pitifully small payload, and the political impossibility of starting over from scratch.

      Sounds about right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    214. Re:Drone It by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      Read the comment from trout007... The F-35 is too heavy for his size, to stay on only one of the related design problems.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    215. Re:Drone It by speederaser · · Score: 1

      I love it. You trolled the mods with complete BS and got a +5 Informative.

      Hey mods - parent should be +5 Funny.

    216. Re:Drone It by pepty · · Score: 1
      Versions of the F35 are supposed to replace the F16 and the F/A 18 so if the altitude was one that was valid for those planes, it should be valid for the test. Also, in the test the F16:

      The F-35 was flying “clean,” with no weapons in its bomb bay or under its wings and fuselage. The F-16, by contrast, was hauling two bulky underwing drop tanks, putting the older jet at an aerodynamic disadvantage.

    217. Re:Drone It by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      You did not see anything yet. Even worse is to see people here insisting that the airplane is the world's best fighter, even though absurdly obvious that he is unable to cover any task well.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    218. Re:Drone It by inhuman_4 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It sounds crazy because that isn't the whole story.

      The F-35 comes in three variants, A for Air Force, B for Marines, and C for Navy. They are all variations on the same theme. The A is the base model. The B is pretty much the same as A but swaps out one of it's fuel tanks for a lift fan. The C is bigger version of A with folding wings, bigger wings are needed to have lower take off and landing speeds for carriers. Sharing a common platform save megabucks on all the radars, radios, FLIRs, fancy electronics, and the massive amount of software that needs to be written. It also gives them all a common engine, cockpit, and ejection system, which makes keeping spares on hand easier.

      The F-35B replaces the Harrier because the Harrier is ancient and being better than it is a low bar to meet.

      The F-35A replaces the F-16 by having stealth and a useful range. The F-16 was designed as a point defence fighter to defend against the Soviets over Germany, short range meant that it could be small, light, and manoeuvrable. Here are the typical combat ranges for the various fighters: F15C: 1,967 km, F-35A: 1,135 km, F-22: 760 km, F-18: 740 km, F-16: 550 km. The secret to the F-16's manoeuvrability is that they ditched a lot of fuel weight. The problem is the Soviet Union collapsed and the point defence mission disappeared. The F-16 found a new lease on life when the strapped an external fuel tank and targeting pod on it to give it enough range to be a bomb truck, but the extra weight of that fuel makes it shit for manoeuvrability. So the F-16 can either have range and shit manoeuvrability, or great manoeuvrability and a useless range. The F-35A has both, plus stealth, plus better infrared/optical sensors so it doesn't need a targeting pod.

      The F-18A/C has the same problems as the F-16. So it is being replaced by two fighters, the F-18E/F Super Hornet for air superiority, and the F-35C for attack missions.

      The A-10 is basically a plane without a mission. It was designed in the days before precision weapons when the only way to hit tanks was to strafe them WWII style. That means low and slow, which means it needed to be armoured against AA. Great, except the Soviets simply upped the AA from 23mm to 30mm, introduced their version of the Stinger called Igla, and added more armour to the roof of their tanks. By the late 80s the A-10 was a death trap, fly low and Soviet AA will kill it, fly medium and Igla will kill it, fly at normal hight and you can't aim. And even if you could aim it's questionable if the GAU could still disable most recent Soviet tanks. The final nail in the coffin is the Soviet Union collapsing. There are no hordes of tanks for the A-10 to kill so what good is it? Against even a moderate air defence network it can't survive, which is why it had to be pulled off attacks against Republican Guard in the Second Gulf War, too many were shot down. Against a unsophisticated enemy like an insurgency it is too expensive, if the enemy can't shoot you down send a drone. The done is more accurate, cheaper, longer loiter time, and can provide video feeds to ground commanders. During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq the A-10 only provided something like 18% of the CAS missions, far less than the F-16s or F-18s. The USAF used the A-10s because they have them, but they don't want them.

      The F-35 can replace all of those planes because one was hopelessly out dated. One had already lost its mission to the remaining two. The final two work okay, so the F-35 was designed as a upgraded version of them with better range, better sensors, and stealth.

    219. Re:Drone It by pepty · · Score: 1

      And you don't need a better plane to win - just hypersonic missiles, drones, and UHF radar systems that are essentially disposable when you compare the costs. Also - even if we end up with a bigger fleet over all, how many F35s could actually fight in a theatre simultaneously? It doesn't sound like any individual plane will be able to fly many sorties per week with all the maintenance time and $$ required. What would the Iraq war have cost if every sortie flown by an A-10, F-16, or other plane that is being replaced by the F35 was actually flown by an F-35? How big a fleet of F35s would it have taken to actually produce that many sorties on that schedule?

    220. Re:Drone It by pepty · · Score: 1

      Why buy an F-16 for $100M you could spend it on Chinese UHF radar systems and missiles instead? You don't need a plane to shoot down a plane.

    221. Re: Drone It by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      That's the problem. Anyone doing that for such a length of time will burn out. I suggest putting these pods in the nearest Dave & Busters. People would be lined up with cards ready to swipe!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    222. Re:Drone It by turp182 · · Score: 1

      All of your examples involved people actually fighting other people, in person.

      Drones aren't people.

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
    223. Re:Drone It by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Drones with weapons aren't autonomous.

      Yet.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    224. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here are the typical combat ranges for the various fighters: F15C: 1,967 km, F-35A: 1,135 km, F-22: 760 km, F-18: 740 km, F-16: 550 km.

      The range is off for the F-16. Lockheed Martin give it a combat radius of 800 nautical miles. The US Air Force says, "In an air-to-surface role, the F-16 can fly more than 500 miles (860 kilometers), deliver its weapons with superior accuracy, defend itself against enemy aircraft, and return to its starting point."

    225. Re:Drone It by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      NATO purchased F-16s. That was the big market they were designed for. It was designed to be cheap and incorporated a lot of what we learned from the Mig in Vietnam. As an export fighter it was great. It can't hold a candle to the F-15 though which with 2 engines has a great safety record and ruled the skies during it's heyday. I really think though that the future is aircraft like the X-47B.

    226. Re: Drone It by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      Vietnam was a failure because we backed the French in the first place with no incentive on our part, thus breaking the first rule of warfare. Namely, never back the French when led by Frenchmen. Corsicans and women are acceptable. Well, that and because we allowed PR to influence the course of the entire war.

    227. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they shouldn't have tried to build one plane that would satisfy 5 different branches of the armed forces with widely different requirements? All in one is best at none, especially when it comes to military aircraft.

    228. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're all waiting with bated breath as the U.S. struggles to realize most aircraft, submarines, and tanks are now obsolete. The only people who can use modern weapons against us are the countries we've sold them to. And collateral damage has become a worse threat than any necessity for using such powerful weapons.

      So that's why about 1% of the military budget goes to fight ISIS. Maybe 2% if you're feeling generous and want to include the cost of a lot of past R&D. The "greatest existential threat" facing our country is consuming almost none of our budget, making it clear that rampant corruption of our military behemoth is the true threat to liberty and safety.

    229. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Doesn't even need to be that high tech. A drone version with 50 cheap cameras pointing in every direction, with a room full of gamers dedicated to watching them
      This could be done for a few thousand dollars, and since the gamers only need to be on active duty few a few hours during an actual conflict, the system pays for itself from saving 30 years of feeding, clothing and housing each pilot you no longer need.

    230. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 2

      I would love for that to be true. But I'm reminded of a maxim of Napoleon, "To have good soldiers, a nation must always be at war." Substantial military advantage will accrue to countries which fight on a regular basis. And if that advantage becomes great enough, then we may well see the real "organized" war of which you speak.

      That's still true, it's just that the tools of war have changed from bullets to computers. Countries such as Greece have been brought to their knees by foreign powers without a single shot being fired, why the fuck are we still investing in WW2 strategies for battle?

    231. Re:Drone It by dsmatthews9379 · · Score: 1

      Why, given it could launch multiple drones from it's weapons bays?

    232. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      How is this different from a session of GTA5? Maybe they're hiring the wrong type of people?

    233. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      If your CO handed you a photo of a nondescript building and said "Intel says a terrorist cell is hiding out here, hit it with a hellfire" What would you do? You would probably do what most of us would take them at their word and follow the order. When you read next week in the Time about how the CIA fucked up again and the place was full of civilians you'd feel guilty and not re-enlist when the time come, a problem the Air Force currently is having.

      How is this different from every war ever fought ever?

    234. Re:Drone It by Ramze · · Score: 1

      You misunderstand. The airplane was designed to be the Homer Simpson mobile of fighter craft.

      This is a brief interview with one of the designers of the F-16 describing why the F-35 is a lemon:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      We all knew it was crap years ago - anyone with eyes could see from the design specs that it can't handle a dogfight with even a Russian Mig, much less one of our own F-16s or F-15s

      Basically, the stealth is crap, the wings are too small to maneuver, the cockpit has no bubble canopy, so the pilot can only look directly ahead (can't turn head at all to see beside you or behind you - supposedly electronics and screens assist instead, but the software isn't ready yet), the design is severely compromised so that all three services can use the same frame even though only the marines want the vertical take-off feature (still all models have a fat body even though just the marines have the actual vertical take-off)...

    235. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      If it works it'll revolutionize aerial warfare and instantly make every Air Force in the world obsolete. Especially the one belonging to Vladimir Putin.

      You really just said that? Even though TFA says it can be beaten by a fighter built in the 70's?

    236. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      And if the Chinese hackers work as well as they're planning this thing will never leave the ground in one piece. See how that works?

    237. Re:Drone It by Dorianny · · Score: 1

      Drone pilots more removed from the action than infantry? Hell yes.

      More removed then the rest of the Air Force? Hell no.

      The way a drone strike works is a drone loiters on station for weeks on end. During this time the drone's pilots figure out who is in the house when, so they can avoid blowing it up when the local equivalent of the Girl Scouts are in the living room. Which means drone pilots know when their target takes the trash out, whether the teenage daughter has a boyfriend who sneaks in sometimes, etc. This makes for attacks that are much easier on the civilian population then normal bombing, because you can skip the night when the girl and her boyfriend are enjoying themselves, but it makes for very stressed out drone pilots.

      It is much worst then that. The houses they are loitering are often the targets relatives. For weeks they get to see their children playing the women tending to the livestock, their joy when the men comes home from work. Then one day Uncle Mullah and some of his friends show up and they have to pull the trigger, sit there and watch as the villagers pull out their bodies from the rubble they just turned the house into. Shift over now they get to go home and kiss their wives and kids.

    238. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Or for the same cost, do I deploy 100,000 armed drones as a defence shield with zero risk of pilot casualty?

    239. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, they don't understand the sunk cost fallacy. Ditch this piece of shit and start again.

    240. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 0

      the US will create about $385 trillion of wealth and the Federal government will collect $71 trillion in tax revenue. Spending 0.2% of that product on a powerful weapon is entirely reasonable.

      Show us your sums. Spend a dollar, make $71. How do I get in on this action?

    241. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ah yes, the too big to fail fallacy. The exact reason over 1 trillion has been pumped into this failure already.

    242. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's stealthy(ish), and has an Active Electronically Scanned Array [wikipedia.org] radar . Part of the idea is that you can see the other guy but they can't see you, so you have blown them out of the sky at BVR (Beyond Visual Range) and never had to get to the point of a dogfight.

      I seen this argument many times for excusing this planes poor dog fighting performance. i.e. "The enemy will be blow out the sky before even knowing the F35 is there". Doesn't help if the enemy is hiding behind a mountain range then pops up, or any other situation where radar traditionally fails. Then suddenly you're in a dog fight you can't win.

    243. Re:Drone It by amorsen · · Score: 1

      The problem is that shoulder-launched AA cannot be negated that way. The A-10 used to be mostly immune to shoulder-launched missiles, they would have to be very lucky to take it down.

      --
      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    244. Re:Drone It by Ramze · · Score: 1

      Great theory... but, no.

      Stealth technology is a marketing ploy. Even the engineers that designed the F-16 laughed about how the F-35 has "stealth" capabilities because they knew the Russians and everyone else with any decent military early-warning radar system made within the last 30 to 40 years can pick up the F-35 easily.

      http://www.thedailybeast.com/a...

      The "theory behind the F-35" was that it was supposed to be a cheap replacement for almost all aircraft used by all branches of the military - a bomber, a fighter, and a ground support plane with vertical take-off capabilities for the Marines. It was supposed to be cheap b/c it could be bought in bulk and have interchangeable parts across the services. The reason it's a crappy dog-fighter is because when you create a Homer Simpson Mobile of an aircraft, you get a crappy aircraft.

      Specifically, because the Marines wanted vertical take-off, the body has to be fat to support the downward thruster, and the wings have to be small as well. This means the plane has to go reeeeeally fast to support itself with its tiny wings. The high speed and tiny wings means terrible turning. The lack of a bubble cockpit means the pilot has to rely on sensors rather than turning their heads and looking around. It also can't really support ground troops for very long because it burns through fuel due to its speed and poor maneuverability. It can't hold much of a payload for bombing either.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      As for future warfare, we still need fighters (drones or not) to combat enemy fighters. We also need bombers and we need ground-support. The F-35 does none of those things well.

    245. Re: Drone It by chaboud · · Score: 1

      Sadly, the speed of light makes latency a problem, wireless communication can be tough in some environments, and... have you seen the security protocols used in day-to-day military applications?

      Yes, we're going to drone it, but drones aren't a perfect answer. Now, carrier airships with drone fleets deployed in flight?

      StarCraft, baby. Let's do it.

    246. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pity then that second world war era radar can detect it.

      You know they have drones now, right? They are taking a billion dollar manned aircraft to a drone fight.

    247. Re:Drone It by Loki_1929 · · Score: 1

      The F-22 isn't supposed to be dogfighting. The F-22 is supposed to blow the enemy out of the sky from BVR long before the enemy knows F-22s are in the air. That's why it was always so stupid to compare the fly-away cost of a new F-22 to the fly-away cost of other nations' aircraft. The real comparison is the fly-away cost of other nations' aircraft against the cost of the AIM-120 AMRAAM fitted to the F-22 that's going to blow their aircraft away.

      If you have F-22s dogfighting with anyone, something has gone horribly wrong.

      And the JSF is a flying pile of horse shit. We'd have been much better off building new F-16s, A-10s, and AC-130s. Let the F-22s own the skies, let the B-2s take out the nastiest air defenses, and then let all the cheap stuff fly in and mop up whatever's left on the ground. I don't know what the Hell problem the JSF is supposed to solve. If the problem were just that the US military has way too much money laying around, we'd simply build more F-22s, B-2s, and carriers. Obviously that's not the problem, so what the Hell is the JSF?

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    248. Re:Drone It by JonathanR · · Score: 1

      Reply to undo ham-fisted mod.

    249. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > hitting Al Jazeera the next day

      I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.

    250. Re:Drone It by Megol · · Score: 1

      But that's true! And the biggest cowards tend to be the people starting wars: they have no problems exposing innocents (enemy and countrymen alike) to a war while being safe themselves.

    251. Re:Drone It by Loki_1929 · · Score: 1

      Sorry, what debacle with the F-22? Near as anyone can tell, it's the best air superiority fighter ever built and will be for the next 15 - 20+ years. Do they cost a lot? Yes. But don't compare the cost of opposing military aircraft to the cost of the F-22. Compare the cost of opposing military aircraft to the cost of the AIM-120 AMRAAM fitted to the F-22 because the first indication the opposing pilots are going to have that F-22s are in the area is a missile warning.

      The Iranians experienced this already when they decided to send up planes to harass some US drone aircraft. The US sent an F-22 up and after the F-22 pilot got bored waiting for the Iranians to notice he was there, he radioed them to get out of his airspace.

      "He flew under their aircraft to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home.'" http://www.military.com/daily-...

      "I can't see the [expletive deleted] thing," said RAAF Squadron Leader Stephen Chappell, exchange F-15 pilot in the 65th Aggressor Squadron. "It won't let me put a weapons system on it, even when I can see it visually through the canopy. [Flying against the F-22] annoys the hell out of me." http://www.acc.af.mil/news/sto...

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    252. Re:Drone It by lgw · · Score: 1

      Sadly, not just the FA18, but almost everything else: F15 (ends in 2019), F16, FA18, A10 (as if), and AV8B. Pretty much only the big FA18E/F that replaced the F14 is left, and that only because the Navy has been able to insist on twin-engines for their main fighter.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    253. Re:Drone It by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      To be fair, the F-18 is a naval aircraft and has features that are irrelevant to most customers.
      Dont assume I am a big F-18 fan from this...

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    254. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have sold the F16s to fucking Pakistan. Do you want to be equally matched per plane to Pakistan?

    255. Re:Drone It by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      The F-35 is NOT an air superiority fighter. That is the F-22's role.
      The F-35 is an attack aircraft, basically a jack of all trades.
      It can bomb, it can fight, but it isn't the best at either.

      For all of me, we should:
      Keep the A-10, upgrade it
      Develop a Harrier successor for the Marines
      Have kept the F-14, upgrading it ( the F-18 is similar to the F-35, an attack aircraft, not a great air superiority fighter )
      Focused the role of the F-22

      Basically, since McNamara, we keep trying to reduce costs by combining roles.
      Most aircraft that have undergone this have suffered.
      It is important to keep an eye on costs, but making cost the primary driver leads to failure.

      But keep in mind, most aircraft go thru a teething period. Some fail, but not all.

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    256. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yet.

    257. Re:Drone It by SlovakWakko · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding? Organized war is what we did since ancient Sumer (blasted Mesopotamia, it was trouble then and it is trouble now) and I don't see a reason to stop now. A global war would be a bit tricky, or at least too short for anyone to really profit from it because of nuclear weapons, but I don't see a reason why this year's Ukrainian campaign couldn't turn into a real war. The Russians already have a lot of weapons and 'vacationers' in there, it just needs a couple thousands well-equipped NATO 'vacationers' and we're good to go. I'm sure the Baltic states plus Poland would be happy to provide those... Give "The Guns of August" a try - it's really good at explaining how easy it is to start a war, and how difficult it is to stop one, once the armies start moving. Also "Red Storm Rising" is quite interesting, if you prefer fiction.

    258. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The last time we engaged in any real dogfights was Vietnam.

      And that was mainly because the rules of engagement said that enemy aircraft had to be identified visually before opening fire on them. And because some of the other sides airfield were off limits to bombing.

    259. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A madrassa full of little ones reciting the Koran and nothing else is probably a more effective target than an ammo dump.

    260. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      isn't the F-22 a dual engine plane?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor

    261. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given the context, I think you got your risks of getting shot down mixed up. The question should be more like "should I buy a F-16 for $100 million that gives maneuverable dogfighter with a chance to fight back in an engagement or a F-35 which is dead as yesteryear's turkey once found and tracked, for $350 million."

      And remember, while the F-35 might be marketed right now as "stealthyish", that'd doesn't say all that much about to what degree it's currently stealthy, nor does it say for how long it will continue to enjoy that kind of advantage. You're sacrificing basic performance in exchange for invisible to a degree that makes it a sitting duck once said invisibility have been negated. Not sure that is a wise trade-off.

    262. Re:Drone It by adhdengineer · · Score: 1

      Dronist.

    263. Re:Drone It by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 1

      I can't think of a greater coward in military service than a drone pilot. Except maybe an ICBM crew.

      If you're in a "fair" fight, you fucked up.

      --
      "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
    264. Re:Drone It by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      The A-10 is designed to fly low and slow and kill enemy tanks.
      It will face enemy rifle, machine gun and anti-aircraft cannon far more than enemy air to air or ground to air missiles.
      A successor would be successful in terms of making the aircraft harder to target by a/a or g/a missiles.

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    265. Re:Drone It by BlackPignouf · · Score: 1

      For that amount of money, you could install photovoltaic panels, solar thermal and a water recuperation system on a significant portion of every roof on the planet.
      As a bonus, the USA would become a beloved nation and wouldn't need any fighter jet to defend itself.

    266. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ooh some nerd watched Wall Street. Big fucking deal.

    267. Re:Drone It by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      that's the GDP of Australia you're talking about, I think it's a bit of a world changer for about twenty three million 'Roos.

      A few years back, we were borrowing $1.3 trillion a year -- you could have cancelled the entire military AND taxed 100% of the income of the rich and (assuming they continued to work for $0 a year) still would have needed to borrow $150 billion a year.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    268. Re:Drone It by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      But the pork all that pork, see it well be the one thing for everybody don't design/build 4 planes spend 10x on one.

      If only it had been pork, at least it would be intentional and likely cheaper. This is more like bad project management with feature creep and design choices forced by (clueless) management/politicians.

    269. Re:Drone It by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 1

      We have long since passed the point where the major actors are just too big and powerful to risk war with eachother,

      Not only that. Globalization has many downsides, but one undoubtedly good thing about it is that most economies today are so interconnected and dependant of one another, that conflict between two developed nations would be extremely disruptive and harmful to both.
      Russia and Europe, or the US and China, while rivals in some respects, thanks to globalization, direct, large-scale conflict is unthinkable.

    270. Re:Drone It by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      *golfclap*

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    271. Re:Drone It by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      See, that's the problem -- as long as they see themselves in either role, it won't work. Perhaps if they were isolated at youth, taught to fight each other, and then misled into thinking it was just a really good video game or simulation of some sort. I bet they could make a movie out of that.

      No, it would suck as a movie, Hollywood would completely miss the point of the story. Better if it was a book. Or even a series of books - you could even narrate it from different points of view.

      You appear to have omitted the word "terrible" before "book" in your post.

      Ender's Game is perhaps the worst famous science fiction book I have ever read, and I've struggled through several Heinleins and A Canticle for Fucking Leibowitz.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    272. Re:Drone It by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      I think they probably should have just executed them

      Cool, then you're on the same moral level as ISIL.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    273. Re:Drone It by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

      You've been watching too much 24 my friend.

      --
      If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
    274. Re:Drone It by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Why do we have a $1 trillion plane? I'm not saying it's a lot of money--it's only about $100bn every year

      I think even besotted fans of fighter jets would admit that it is, in fact, quite a lot of money.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    275. Re:Drone It by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

      When was the last time and F-16 was shot down? As far as I can tell there have been 3 lost in the last 25 years to SAMs, and it seems to be questionable whether the F-35 can evade these significantly better.

      --
      If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
    276. Re:Drone It by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      I tend to ignore GDP as an indicator because it's utterly useless

      Maybe in some respects, but it's fine as a means of comparison.

      Saying that the cost of this plane is the same as the GDP of Australia has nothing to do with problems of defining economic growth

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    277. Re:Drone It by Ecuador · · Score: 1

      I loved it when I read it. It probably helped that at the time I had no idea the author was a homophobic bigot.
      But it is all a matter of taste. For example several of Heinlein's books are among my favorites (e.g. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land, Door into Summer...). So far I have only been really disappointed with Time Enough For Love.

      --
      Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    278. Re:Drone It by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      If it works it'll revolutionize aerial warfare and instantly make every Air Force in the world obsolete.

      Yeah, IF.

      History is full of revolutionary military technologies that will make armies/navies/air forces obsolete. The trouble is that the other guys don't just sit around twiddling their thumbs while you develop that technology. By the time your revolutionary technology is fit for service, the world has moved on.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    279. Re:Drone It by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      PWN Squadron...?

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    280. Re:Drone It by Spacelord · · Score: 1

      There was an F-18L with all the naval stuff stripped. Nobody wanted it.

    281. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are fed probably ten times as much propaganda about the enemy as the rest of us

      When you say "probably ten times" do you mean it could be nine or it could be eleven, or do you mean you've made up the entire thing as something that "seems likely"?

    282. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I should stay out of your range and kill you when you are easy prey and can't shoot back

      Yeah, nothing cowardly about that at all rolls eyes.

    283. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Victims relative to others in the armed forces, perhaps, but still people who are voluntarily involved in the military in the first place.

    284. Re:Drone It by mSparks43 · · Score: 1

      If it was just a case of the Gs being "artificially limited", it would just be a case of limiting them less so they aren't out manoeuvred by the now ancient F16.

      This sounds more like the widely reported fundamental problem with the engines and aerodynamics.

      This is especially a problem when Russia has already overcome the engine problems on its already highly manoeuvrable airframe.

    285. Re:Drone It by darkmeridian · · Score: 1

      Well, it's definitely troubling that the F-35 is getting its ass kicked in short-range battle but you're right. We're relying on stealth and advanced sensors along with next-generation AMRAAMS and ASRAAMS to get you the victory long before gun range.

      --
      A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
    286. Re:Drone It by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      Add to this the fact that the PAK-FA can also carry more internal armament, so you need less planes for the same ordinance delivery.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    287. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Until the status quo is detrimental to you. Countries tend to go to war when they need something, out of desperation or greed of their leaders. If you think that China isn't going to reach a point where they desperately need something that someone else has, you are kidding yourself.

      Saddam started the gulf war I because of the massive debts the Iran-Iraq war left. Germany started WWII because of the massive debts caused by reparations for WWI. Japan entered the war to attain resources as well.

      When a nations leader realizes that an economic disaster is looming they will come up with many reasons to justify taking from someone else. It is the same thing that drives a lot of crime in poor areas of cities, just on a much larger scale.

    288. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People have been saying that for ages, but Russia is under increasing sanctions, which decreases the dependence on the countries opposite them (NATO). Diplomacy and trade tend to drop off just before a war, and there are plenty of other trading partners on both sides.

    289. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Current planes are much superior at fighting World War 2, where dogfighting at speed was the norm.

      For future wars it's not quite so clear. The last time we engaged in any real dogfights was Vietnam. The Iraqis, who had the planes to dogfight us in the first war, fled to Iran because they figured they'd die of massed missile fire before they got into cannon range.

      The theory behind F-35 is that it's virtually impossible to detect, and we have the electronic warfare capabilities to detect anything anyone else actually has. That means that F-35 should be able to fly around at Mach 1.6 with being targeted by the enemy (who don't even know where it is), while firing off it's missiles whenever an enemy aircraft gets into range. It's more a submarine or cloaked starship then a fighter craft. If it works it'll revolutionize aerial warfare and instantly make every Air Force in the world obsolete. Especially the one belonging to Vladimir Putin.

      Current planes are much superior at fighting World War 2, where dogfighting at speed was the norm.

      For future wars it's not quite so clear. The last time we engaged in any real dogfights was Vietnam. The Iraqis, who had the planes to dogfight us in the first war, fled to Iran because they figured they'd die of massed missile fire before they got into cannon range.

      The theory behind F-35 is that it's virtually impossible to detect, and we have the electronic warfare capabilities to detect anything anyone else actually has. That means that F-35 should be able to fly around at Mach 1.6 with being targeted by the enemy (who don't even know where it is), while firing off it's missiles whenever an enemy aircraft gets into range. It's more a submarine or cloaked starship then a fighter craft. If it works it'll revolutionize aerial warfare and instantly make every Air Force in the world obsolete. Especially the one belonging to Vladimir Putin.

      Stealth? Pffft, that has proved to be detected, by the loss of stealth a stealth drone and bomber. Usual crap about relying on too much tech, thinking you are far superior. That a crock of US propaganda junk!

    290. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People who don't deserve to die in a war... You say that and while it is generally accepted these days that civilians should be "off limits" is that really logical at all? First, the civilians build the weapons being used right? Second, in most countries civilians have at least some say in the actions committed by their government. Remember that soldiers are civilians when they are not soldiers.

      It is a very murky ethical question, but avoiding civilians treats war like a big game. You send people off to do your bidding and wash your hands of it, claiming you are innocent. Then you pay for and/or build the weapons they use and send them all the supplies they need to fight and die while still proclaiming innocence.

      War isn't a game. When our nation goes to war, we are collectively responsible.

    291. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously have no clue how expensive it is to operate bases and aircraft sorties out of foreign bases. Tankers, fuel, food, weapons that cost more than your house, etc.
      We probably could have purchased a half dozen more F35s with what ha been spent over there.

      Say it with me now... "Operating costs" yes, there you go!

    292. Re:Drone It by vettemph · · Score: 1

      Score! congratulations.

      It wasn't designed for military missions. It was designed for profiteering. Those at the top are not patriots, they are the enemy.

      Cheers comrade.

      --
      The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
    293. Re:Drone It by swb · · Score: 1

      The results of not killing them -- two US soldiers killed, one gravely injured, several killed when a rescue chopper comes under fire and crashes. I couldn't even give you the Taliban body count -- my guess is at least two dozen killed by the 3 SEALs as they tried to escape, another dozen or more killed by a helicopter when it finally rescued the "Lone Survivor".

      The results of killing them? Two dead Taliban, the 3 SEALs escape.

      And in the annals of military history in any similar situation the two Taliban would have been killed by any scouting party or commandos lest they imperil their mission and escape.

    294. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The whole idea of shooting down fighter jets from a long distance is a bad one.

      Even the best BVR (beyond visual range) missiles have a realistic pkill of around 5-20%, so to drop an enemy fighter you have to shoot more missiles than a single F-35 can even carry. Against a well trained pilot in a modern figher jet, it's more like 3%.

      The longer the distance, the less likely a missile hit is. It follows from the laws of physics. Longer distance gives a longer missile warning time for the targeted pilot, so evasion gets easier.

      A fighter jet normally cruises at 1 mach, while missiles do 3-4 mach. When the missile gets close, the fighter pulls an evasive manouver, around 9 G, which is the maximum tolerance for the pilots.

      To follow the fighter in close range, the missile has to pull a G-force that's much higher because of the higher speed. The problem is, no missiles exist which can pull enough G's! The best missiles so far top out at ~25-30 G.

      The longest distance in history for shooting down a fighter jet with a air-to-air missile was 25 km, and that was against an ancient MiG with a poorly trained pilot and malfunctioning radar and missile warnings.

    295. Re:Drone It by SomeoneFromBelgium · · Score: 1

      The F-35A replaces the F-16 by having stealth and a useful range. [...] The F-16 found a new lease on life when the strapped an external fuel tank and targeting pod on it to give it enough range to be a bomb truck, but the extra weight of that fuel makes it shit for manoeuvrability. So the F-16 can either have range and shit manoeuvrability, or great manoeuvrability and a useless range. The F-35A has both, plus stealth, plus better infrared/optical sensors so it doesn't need a targeting pod..

      Hence the significance of the article. It seems that an empty F-35 (no weapons) is still no match for an F-16 with the external fuel tank strapped on...

    296. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice in theory, but it has just been beaten by a F16 with the extra fuel tank..

    297. Re:Drone It by Athanasius · · Score: 1
      First let me apologise for RTFA'ing. But here's what was said about weight carried:

      The F-35 was flying “clean,” with no weapons in its bomb bay or under its wings and fuselage. The F-16, by contrast, was hauling two bulky underwing drop tanks, putting the older jet at an aerodynamic disadvantage. But the JSF’s advantage didn’t actually help in the end. The stealth fighter proved too sluggish to reliably defeat the F-16, even with the F-16 lugging extra fuel tanks. “Even with the limited F-16 target configuration, the F-35A remained at a distinct energy disadvantage for every engagement,” the pilot reported.

    298. Re:Drone It by Athanasius · · Score: 1
      From TFA:

      ...consisted of traditional Basic Fighter Maneuvers in offensive, defensive and neutral setups at altitudes ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 feet.”

    299. Re:Drone It by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      Drone pilots don't seem to have much of a conscience either. They are far removed from the action, the consequences, less involved.

      If I were up against drones my first response would be infiltrators who would target the drone pilots families, the shops they go to, the people they owe money to, people who owe them money etc etc. Go Kaiser Sose on them. If they want to hide behind drones let them face the consequences.

      Which, of course, would make them care even less about civilian casualties. You killed their family? They'll kill yours, and your neighbors, and your friends, and their families and neighbors, etc.

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
    300. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a first I've heard the A-10 being a death trap. The pilots who flew them swore by them, and the A-10 has seen great success as an air support role for ground troops in Afghanistan. The A-10 could fly back safely with half a wing missing, an engine out and/or part of the tail gone. Hardly a death trap. The bathtub protects the pilot from a lot of issues as well.

    301. Re:Drone It by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      As Patton said, war is not about dying for your country. War is about making that other poor bastard die for his.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    302. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every article I've read on the matter though, states the plan is for squadrons to be made up of F-35s and F-22s the F-22s providing the true air-superiority role. The F-35 needs to be able to handle it to some degree to augment the lack of F-22s in the US roster.

    303. Re:Drone It by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      We went into Vietnam expecting to fight with long-range missiles. Then we didn't have the airspace control or identification, so we imposed rules of engagement that required visual identification, making the longer-ranged missiles useless. Since then, we've made considerable advances, and air combat is more likely to be decided at range.

      Dogfighting isn't the most important thing in fighter-to-fighter combat. In WWII, everybody fighting the Japanese found out the hard way that dogfighting a Japanese fighter was a really bad idea, and people came up with other tactics. The US Navy developed ways to cooperate better, and the Flying Tigers found that getting altitude, diving through the Japanese formation, taking a shot, and then continuing the dive until there was no pursuit, worked nicely.

      In war, redundancy is actually not that important. If a modern weapon takes out one of something, there's a good chance it will take out two if they're there, while in peacetime something that takes out an engine is likely to just take out one engine. In wartime, if the F-15 turns around and heads back to base on one engine, it's a sitting duck in the sky if pursued or if it encounters another enemy. In wartime, the most common way to lose aircraft is enemy action, and if a single-engine fighter gains an advantage by having a single engine, it likely outweighs increased survivability.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    304. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't call Elizabethtown "hillbilly". It's not in the hills of Kentucky, it's central Kentucky. And I don't remember seeing people barefoot and missing teeth.

    305. Re:Drone It by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      More Gs IS more maneuverable. If you plot the course of a moving thing, you show position over time. The first derivative of that is velocity, and the second is acceleration. An aircraft that can pull more Gs can turn faster and tighter, and that's maneuverability.

      There's a lot of other questions about Gs. How fast can the aircraft get into a position to pull Gs (roll rate is part of this), how fast can it pull Gs (I'm not sure this matters any more, but it did in WWII when control surfaces were moved by human muscle), how much energy pulling Gs will drain off (energy is life out there), and how does all of this vary with air density and speed?

      When discussing Gs in terms of the whole fighter, stressing the airframe for more Gs results in more weight, which among other things means the control surfaces have to apply more force. Pulling more than 9 Gs may not be useful, as that's a big strain on the pilot. Even in WWII, the maneuverability merchants like Italian biplanes and Japanese fighters before the late war were found inferior to more powerful and less maneuverable fighters.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    306. Re:Drone It by Reziac · · Score: 1

      How about we stop trying to make one plane do everything? Build something small, fast, and minimal for dogfights. Build something with more range and capacity for when that's needed. Don't cripple the pilot's ability to use the tool, either.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    307. Re:Drone It by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      It is hard to "strip off" the naval stuff.
      You can remove the tail hook, but the stuff they do to the airframe to make it strong enough to keep the tail from coming apart under that abuse would require a large redesign.
      The landing gear are likewise stronger than a "normal" aircraft, and would require redesign.

      From the below, 120 miles of range, lower ordnance load, and, unless the L was half price, a higher acquisition cost. Operational costs are probably higher, spares are probably more, fuel cost are probably higher( greater range, two engines to feed, more weight ( more fuel, navalized parts, etc ).
      Not a great value for non-Naval airforces.

      ( numbers from wikipedia )
      F-16,
      cost: 19 m
      range: 340 mi
      payload: 17,000lbs
      speed: mach 2

      F-18,
      cost: 29 m
      range: 460 mi
      payload:13,700 lbs
      speed: mach 1.8

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    308. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tony stark owned the coorporation making the weapons, so yes, he would have made billions.

    309. Re:Drone It by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't work. Hyperinflation, economic collapse, and wide-spread poverty.

    310. Re:Drone It by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      GTA5 people aren't real people on the other end. Doom 2 people respawn.

    311. Re:Drone It by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      The B-52 requires complete air superiority in the area that it operates because it can't hide from radar except by jamming, so just building a new version wouldn't really work. The B-1 has speed on its side (thought not as much as the original specs) and the B-2 has stealth. The tentatively named B-3 is supposed to replace all of the heavy bombers, though the B-2 will probably stick around for a few decades. That's a reasonable goal, unlike that of the F-35.

      It's supposed to use mostly existing technologies instead of planning for advances as happened with (and expanded the cost and schedule of) the B-2, F-22, and F-35. Whether they can actually do that is a giant question mark, but the Air Force is allegedly targeting $500 million to $600 million per plane as the final cost.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    312. Re:Drone It by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      Ask Nonnus how that turns out...

    313. Re:Drone It by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 1

      The problem is we are selecting targets based on shitty intelligence and in many cases nothing but metadata and then dropping bombs on people. Yep drones have become a flashpoint around the world for outrage. I don't really see any evidence to suggest sentiment toward maned American military aircraft would be much better if we were using them the way we are using the drones. Most of the targets don't really have the capacity to shoot back at something like jet fighter-bomber anyway.

      We're also fighting against people who, by and large, don't actually care about the Geneva Conventions and the longstanding traditions--including some Quranic prohibitions, ironically--against certain types of tactics, with a mass media that currently is more interested in filling the 24/7/365 news cycle than accurate reporting. So what if it turns out that, say, the children's hospital that was bombed because intel said it was an arms depot turns out to have been both? That's old news, let's talk about the newest celebrity scandal instead!

      And yes, this sort of dual-purposing of structures is expressly forbidden precisely because it's using innocent civilians--sometimes ignorant, sometimes forcibly--as human shields. It has been used, however, and much propaganda hay made from it... We just don't tend to talk about it in retrospect, possibly because some, like the Thrasher Incident wherein the WWI-era RMS Fabala dual-classed as a passenger ship and munitions carrier, would be a touch embarrassing.

    314. Re:Drone It by stinerman · · Score: 1

      We can go back to civil-war era marching in straight lines and box formations. That's apparently incredibly brave.

    315. Re: Drone It by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      So, what your saying is, "Nits make lice"

    316. Re:Drone It by spiritplumber · · Score: 1

      There is a special Marine Corps plane. It's called the A-10. Hand them over to the Marines instead of scrapping them.

      --
      Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    317. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good God! No just make it one book- the sequels would suck.

    318. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I disagree about carpet bombing. There were inefficiencies, but it took out production.

      If they'd destroyed a few more cities, such as the 1000 bomber raids early on, before they moved some production out, Germany likely would have been finished.

    319. Re: Drone It by stoatwblr · · Score: 1

      "Backed the french" - against a people fighting for their independence.

      We all know how that one ended in 1776 for the backers of the colonial power, don't we?

    320. Re:Drone It by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but most weapons today wouldn't be made by one person. Not even designed by one person.

      You could argue that maybe a sword could have been designed by and smithed by one person, but not a drone or guided missile.

      And even a sword is often the result of centuries of development in its details. What metallurgy went into the blade, how long it is, the guard, the grip, etc.

      You're simply not going to get one guy who is responsible for it all. The best you'll get is the guy who owns the company who designed it and more importantly, produces it.

    321. Re:Drone It by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      It's actually much easier.

    322. Re:Drone It by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      The US Government isn't brave or cowardly. They're fighting a war. The "brave" alternative is sending troops in to get killed. That's not a solution, then you just get more people killed.

      There is this feeling that war is too "easy". I don't really see how making war "hard" is really going to help. They had the "War to End All Wars" in 1914-1918. The next war didn't even take that long to happen. And even more people died, despite the hideous number of casualties from the first war.

      A government that beats down the opposition quickly and with little loss to their side is doing their job. The problem is with policy. And if you don't like policy, you don't frame it in terms of how effective we are at fighting. That's the wrong discussion.

    323. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Repower it with what power it was supposed to have to begin with

    324. Re:Drone It by vux984 · · Score: 1

      The US Government isn't brave or cowardly.

      Some of there actions are brave. Others cowardly.

      They're fighting a war.

      No. They really aren't fighting a war.

      They are using the military as an international extrajudicial hit squad.

      Call it a "war" to rationalize it is like rolling tanks down main street to wage war on shoplifters. After all, we can't simply send the police... they might get injured, how can we take that risk? We should use every advantage we have, all the time... right?)

      The "brave" alternative is sending troops in to get killed. That's not a solution, then you just get more people killed.

      There are a lot of options between "drone strike at wedding" and "boots on the ground invasion"; lets not frame the question as a binary choice.

      And if you don't like policy, you don't frame it in terms of how effective we are at fighting

      How we engage is as important as policy. We could use ICBMs, with nuclear warheads too, without loss of American life. That doesn't make it a sensible choice.

      Drone strikes at weddings aren't sensible either.

    325. Re:Drone It by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      "Hey, honey, they just bombed my house and killed my parents. Can I stay over at your place for a while?"

      "I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment."

    326. Re:Drone It by servant · · Score: 1

      I wonder if that is it, or if it is the bird just can't do it! My guess is the 'built by committee' issue is at fault. In any case taxpayers pay. Let's all hope something reasonable can be salvaged from this project. Then it might be the 'Flight of the Phoenix'.

      --
      ... "When you pry the source from my cold dead hands."
    327. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      They are when you play multiplayer :)
      But seriously, when they train Marines there is a certain types of people that just isn't up to the task (ie is willing to kill on command). I'm wondering that instead of hiring whoever they are hiring, maybe they should look for a different skill set. There are people out there who will kill without a conscience, instead of regular joe off the street, maybe we should be looking for our next Drone pilots in Supermax or Fortune500 boardrooms?

    328. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everybody with a clue knew this. Through f16 designer guy blasted this out a long time ago.

      Yeah. Corruption.

    329. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you ever go against russkies, you have to assume cueing by long wave ground radars. Stealth useless

      And they also have infrared seekers and missiles. And thrust vectoring much longer than NATO had.

      Have fun with the visual dogfight against an sun 37.

    330. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really wonder why the mohammedics haven't figured elint yet. They must be

    331. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ai currently dumber than ant.

      Don't believe who're minsky. He has a Jesus complex.

      Android sucks.

    332. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hard to jam long wave radar from an f18. You need an rc135 sized monster for effective antennas.

    333. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the russkies and chicoms turn nasty, they will turn the tables with the mohammedics.

      Good for goose, good for gander etc. And yeah, they have competitive stuff by now.

    334. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need to turn or climb fast to dogfight. Just "hit the brakes" or the flaps or something, there's this handle that you push forward and it makes Kenny Loggins scream, then the bogie flies past you, then BAM you hit him with the main guns, Bruckheimer-explodes, then head back to the bar and your buddies buy you a beer. Fuckin'A.

    335. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TIL 18,000 lbs is a pitifully small payload for strike aircraft.

      Afterall, the Vaunted F-16 carries 17,000 lbs, max, with a 350nm combat radius, and everyone knows 17,000 > 18,000 and 340 > 590.

    336. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad all the armchair generals here will dismiss this.

    337. Re: Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually the coastguard has some that are autonomous

    338. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      The F-16 itself could be out-dog-fought by almost any plane built in the 30s, including many not intended for air-to-air missions, because Biplanes are much more maneuverable then jets. In actual combat it would be much better because it would be fast enough that none of the Biplanes could start a dogfight with an F-16. The Italian Air Force did not realize the major advantage speed gave a plane, so they emphasized maneuverability (and consequent superiority in dogfights) for years after everyone else had decided 350 M,PH was the minimum acceptable speed.

    339. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      This is the nature of military plans.

      You have a plan that you think could work. The enemy also has a plane he thinks could work. Neither side is guaranteed victory in the absence of overwhelming numbers.

      I doubt the Chinese plan will work for more then a day, because you can always deconnect the aircraft from it's network and reinstall the software. Which is the reason they are trying to develop some interesting hardware of their own.

    340. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had eight choices on the ballot for president last time around. No type-in. None of the choices were acceptable. What happened to my right to choose who I want to vote for from among the candidates running for president?

    341. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Against the Russians it wouldn't be one theater. Same with the Chinese. Against almost anyone else we'd have a 10-1 advantage in airframes using only half our F-35s.

      I suspect that F-35s could easily keep up the operational tempo of earlier aircraft, but for a lot more money. The USAF has no interest in reducing the number of missions it can fly, but it has plenty of interest in ensuring it's budget for those missions is maximized.

    342. Re:Drone It by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      So a total success in the eyes of the military industrial complex plus the added bonus of various US vassal states (Britain, Australia, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Canada), who are required under threat of disruptive espionage activities to pay tribute buying that hunk of junk. So billions more in income and double plus bonus, it will need to be replaced in the near future. It seems to look like the US military industrial complex has picked up on the M$ tactic of every 2nd version being crap, so schmuck customers feel better when they pay again for the other every 2nd version that is at least somewhat functional and usable.

      Make no mistake no matter how crap the F35 is, those vassal states will pay full price for them and for their replacement, it is most definitely not a choice. Not only will they have to buy them, they will be required to say how great they are.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    343. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      a) None of those are stealth.

      b) None of those can fulfill the roles of any of the others.

      c) They're all old designs that don't look good on a budget request.

      d) Particularly a $1 Trillion request.

      So we'll have a very expensive plane that does nothing particularly well, but we'll have a lot of them, and against almost any opponent we're likely to face it will be literally invincible because getting through stealth (even the Gen 1 Stealth of the F-117) is a lot harder then it looks in a Navy white paper.

    344. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Damnit, you mentioned the B-2, which is stealth.

      So a) only applies to three of the four.

    345. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The theory behind F-35 is that it's virtually impossible to detect, and we have the electronic warfare capabilities to detect anything anyone else actually has. That means that F-35 should be able to fly around at Mach 1.6 with being targeted by the enemy (who don't even know where it is), while firing off it's missiles whenever an enemy aircraft gets into range.

      It may be radar stealthy but I would submit that enemy fighters will not be using active radar extensively in a combat zone. They will most likely employ passive infrared search and target systems that can now operate at beyond visual range. The F 35 is not as infrared stealthy as one would like, hence it will not be fighting enemy fighters on its own terms - as an undetected standoff missile-launching platform.

      At the time of its design the F 35 looked good on paper, but the advances in radar and infrared counter stealth technology are making it progressively less competitive against its likely opponents. Consider that one assumption that is made in its combat role is that we will at least have sufficient local air superiority over the battlefield that our E-3 AWACS planes will be able to monitor the airspace electronically and supply the F 35s with targeting data on enemy planes. The Russians are actively developing tactics for dealing with these airborne controllers and so the F 35's chances of operating in the manner in which it was intended are questionable. If it loses AWACS support, either through physical loss of the aircraft or by sophisticated jamming of the data links with the controllers, then it must go toe to toe with more highly maneuverable air-superiority fighters. Would it then require aircraft like F 16s, F 22s or F 15s to accompany it to ensure its survival against enemy fighters?

    346. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The F-35 carries 2 air-to-air missiles internally. If it carries any externally it loses its stealth.

      Those missiles hit about 50% of the time. So that's one dead MIG out of a standard flight of 3-4.

      Once the missiles are fired, the MIGs know where the F-35 is. They have thermal trackers for this sort of thing.

      Since the F-35 isn't more maneuverable, or faster, then the MIGs, it's dead. The current version doesn't even have a gun to dogfight with, not that it would matter.

      The only solution is more F-35s flying together, but the cost makes that impossible. There will always be 3-4 MIGs for every F-35.

      So the program needs to be scrapped pronto, and a new competition held. No government money, except for buying FINISHED aircraft from manufacturers.

    347. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      And who has a decent military RADAR Early warning system besides the Russians and Chinese? Hint: they're all our allies.

      Moreover who is going to retain said system after the B-2s are done with it? Hint: the answer is nobody.

      Iraq had a pretty good air defense system in 1990. It died because nobody bothers buying enough air defense stuff to beat off US Air Force levels of modern, well-piloted, well-armed aircraft. They just don't have the money to buy enough air defense stuff to make a dent in the number of good (and well-piloted and well-armed) airframes $500-$700 Billion a year can throw at them.

      As for it's ability to do ground support and light attack missions (B-1, B-52, and B-2 are all going to serve until the 2030s in the Heavy Bomber role, which most air forces no longer have because they can't afford them); the sheer quantity of missions 2400 of the damn things can perform has a quality all it's own.

    348. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      One of those features is actually the Second engine. Grippen (not intended for Naval use), has one engine. Russia's Su-27-based and Mig-29 designs, and Dassualt Rafelle are twin-engine partly because they're carrier-capable. Eurofighter Typhoon is not, but before the French pulled out carrier capability was on the spec-sheet, so it's also twin-engine.

      Fo an aircraft that's supposed to command the entire fucking Pacific you want a second engine because it can't just land on a handy highway if the one engine dies. It has to fly home (or close enough to home that a chopper can save the pilot).

    349. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Don't be silly. It's not VTOL so the Marines could be stuck on a beach without air support like that one time in WW2.

      Moreover it's old, so the budget request would be tiny, and no Marine Major General who made it would ever earn his Third Star.

    350. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      That's always a risk in military service. If you miss out on one of those revolutions you lose the Battle of France to a force with fewer troops and shittier tanks (albeit much better aircraft). So you have to at least try.

      On the other hand, we will have 2,400 of the damn things. So even if they suck individually the quantity will "have a quality of it's very own". Especially when combined with our more experienced pilots and better missiles.

    351. Re:Drone It by khallow · · Score: 1

      Countries such as Greece have been brought to their knees by foreign powers without a single shot being fired,

      Greece is an own goal. Don't make the mistake of assuming it took any sort of effort to take them down.

    352. Re:Drone It by weweedmaniii · · Score: 1

      Armored Dragon, you are really trying to make friends in Hardin County aren't you? LOL I live close enough to hear tank fire (well used to, Fort Benning is awfully far away) I can't totally disagree with you, but you are correct US Hwy 31W cuts through the post and several state roads go through there as well. It is finally a closed post though, went to show my fiance the post and had to show IDs to get on post.

      --
      "If stupid things work...then they are not stupid."
    353. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, you watched Good Kill and thought it was a documentary?

      You know it's a work of fiction right?

    354. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " they were going to have to buy them from Russia or China."

      I think Australia may have looked towards UK or Europe first.

    355. Re:Drone It by Xest · · Score: 1

      Which is good, because given how much smaller an economy Russia has than the US, France, Britain, Germany et. al. meaning there's no way it can both maintain a 5th gen fighter programme, and still manage to afford to keep up the maintenance to the same degree the West does, it'll have far less in the first place.

      Once you factor in lower numbers, poorer stealth, general cheaper lower quality design, and higher maintenance requirements the PAK-FA isn't the great money efficient super-fighter many suggest. If it ever sees combat against the West there wont be enough of them flying to make much of an impact. Mostly it's only going to be useful in theatres like Georgia and Ukraine where it's got the backing of overwhelming force and is up against old Russian kit that might be able to detect and shoot down say, a Mig 29, but not a PAK-FA.

      You have to remember that Russia is great at propaganda, much of what we know about the PAK-FA is overhyped. The F-35 didn't suffer it's first engine fire until about 100+ were produced and had logged thousands of flying hours. The PAK-FA was burning after only 5 had been produced:

      http://www.janes.com/article/4...

      That's assuming the whole programme even remains financially viable in the first place:

      http://theaviationist.com/2015...

      Reduced order numbers already leaves the programme precariously close to cancellation. Another downturn in the Russian economy through sanctions or oil prices mean the programme will be dead and buried.

    356. Re:Drone It by Xest · · Score: 1

      "But a) they're only planning on buying 150 (and only 50 by 2020), while we already have 115 and will end up with 2,400+ and b) if the plan works dogfighting is irrelevant."

      They're now only planning on buying 12 actually:

      https://medium.com/war-is-bori...

      Yes. 12.

      In practice, it's not much of a stretch to view it as anything other than a cancellation of the programme in everything but name.

    357. Re:Drone It by Xest · · Score: 1

      I agree with you on other aircraft, but I don't really agree about the A-10, whilst the platform is built around the gun you don't bring it to a fight just because of it's gun. You bring it to a fight because it can blow up individual tanks with anti-tank missiles, slaughter multiple LAVs with bombs, and then spend the next 45 minutes gunning the hell out of any remaining troop transports and troops.

      Yes, as air defences have improved it's become more reliant on needing support for air defence suppression, but the A-10s advantage is that it can loiter and stay on mission longer than an F-16 in terms of fuel, and longer than a drone in terms of firepower whilst being on target faster than an attack helicopter.

      It still does what it was always meant to do well, and those close air support, if you've got ground troops flushing the enemy out of a forest, or a village then the A-10 can hang around long enough to help them do that, and to clean up anything trying to get away, whether it's a few troops, an APC, or a tank. It can also just obliterate any buildings that the enemy refuse to be budged from and are pinning down your ground forces from.

      Again, an attack helicopter is ideal for this role, but it can't always get there quick enough, isn't always in range, and is typically more vulnerable. The A-10 is basically a kind of rapid response attack helicopter and is unmatched in that niche role. The fact it is a niche role means it could easily be dismissed as not worth the effort, but unfortunately it's the very niche that we've needed for 15 years now.

      Quoting the 18% of sorties in Iraq/Afghanistan is a bit of an abuse of statistics too when you don't mention the fact that the A-10 is fewer in number than the other aircraft in the first place. Given that the US airforce has only 143 A-10s but about 300 F-15Es, 1200 F-16s, the Navy about 500 F-18s, the Marines 300 harriers and the air force/CIA around 500 - 700 Predator drones then I don't think 18% is too bad a figure for A-10s. These figures also don't include other NATO aircraft such as RAF Tornados and Typhoons. It seems likely that the A-10 was actually punching above it's weight numerically - it can't do more CAS missions if there just aren't enough A-10s to go around relative to other aircraft.

    358. Re:Drone It by gnupun · · Score: 1

      Yes, but most weapons today wouldn't be made by one person. Not even designed by one person.

      So share the profits with the 10 or 100 designers based on the importance of their contribution. Instead all profits go to the organizers (management), investors and shareholders. These people who had little or nothing to do with the technical aspects of the product. Sure they should get a share of the profits, but not all of it.

      And even a sword is often the result of centuries of development in its details. What metallurgy went into the blade, how long it is, the guard, the grip, etc.

      I'll repeat the previous point: There's no reason only one person should profit from the development of this weapon. The profits could be shared by multiple innovators.

    359. Re:Drone It by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      I'm *very* well aware that for a Naval aircraft, the second engine is a required feature.
      That fact is why the engines are spaced so far apart on the late, great F-14. They are so far apart because the designers wanted to increase the likelihood that the other engine would survive if the aircraft were hit ( or if an engine tore itself apart, possibly due to battle damage ) It was important enough that they lived with the fact that being so far apart would tend to put the aircraft in a spin if one did go out ( as made famous in TopGun ).

      My comment was that for general export sales to non Naval customers that second engine is *not* a sales feature. See my other post, the F-18 is heavier, will likely have higher operating costs, and is more expensive. For an air force flying from traditional land bases, as most export countries would be, the F-16 is the better choice. You can just about buy two F-16's for the cost of an F-18.
      For a country looking to buy aircraft for their aircraft carriers, the F-18 would be the only choice between the two, even a "navalized" F-16 would lack the very important in that scenario second engine.

      For an aircraft that is supposed to command the entire Pacific, I would actually want a more capable aircraft than the F-18. The F-18 is less expensive operationally than the F-14 was, and is aerodynamically better, but it does not have the range or payload ( during some missions against Afghanistan, the F-18 could not haul bombs to the distance the F-14 was able to. So, they put the bombs on the fighter ( the F-14 ), and had the attack aircraft ( the F/A-18 ) fly cover.
      http://www.freerepublic.com/fo...

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    360. Re:Drone It by segedunum · · Score: 1

      Against a semi-credible enemy you always end up dogfighting. You can never assume that an enemy's radar and detection system won't get better, and when they do they simply upgrade them. To stay a head a stealth plane needs to be taken out of service and it's shape and materials changed.

    361. Re:Drone It by segedunum · · Score: 1

      I bet they'll produce far more of them, and keeping their Suckhois in service that will be more than enough. You've also got to be able to keep a plane in the air, and the F-22 and F-35 has an incredibly poor record on that count.

    362. Re: Drone It by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Russia can't profit from taking the Crimean peninsula.

      The bottom line is war is, in general, no longer profitable. Not even for the leaders and their owners. Just too destructive to commerce and infrastructure.

      We're not done with Russia until Putin is standing in line for toilet paper (or standing before a Russian firing squad).

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    363. Re:Drone It by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Greece is what happens when a nations economy is mostly underground. Read economies don't survive 50 year retirement ages. That was all a show from day one.

      They really don't care what currency they use to carry out their untaxed business.

      It's like threatening a drug cartel with the collapse of the dollar. They care, because they have stash houses full of money. But in the long term they don't care what the cocaine is being paid for with.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    364. Re:Drone It by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Secondary explosions are hardly 'circumstantial'.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    365. Re:Drone It by Xest · · Score: 1

      Right but with what money? They've already dropped their order for 50 down to 12, and India whose money Russia is dependent on to run the programme have stopped even talking to Russia because they're so pissed off about Russia's failings on the development of this aircraft.

      Russia can't afford to build more, hence why it's actually now planning to build less. India may well give up altogether.

      There's nothing wrong with the F-22 and F-35's record. The PAK-FA already has a worse record than the F-35 as the PAK-FA to date has a 1 in 5 engine fire rate, vs. the F-35s 1 in 100. It looks even worse for the PAK-FA if you include flying hours. Similarly, the F-22 is now a successful and now even battle tested production aircraft whilst the PAK-FA is struggling to even stay off the ground because it's engine is far too underpowered.

    366. Re:Drone It by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      We're not fighting ISIS directly.

      We are maintaining a stalemate between ISIS and the Shia.

      As said uptread we are trying to fight the last war. In this case the was the Iraq/Iran war.

      Getting two of your enemies to fight each other is the _best_ kind of war.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    367. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am guessing that some kind of air defense suppression unit would precede the A-10 type aircraft so that it could operate and do its job.

      Something stealthy, ideally?

      Also, the assumption that you can remove all air defense at a certain point in time, or even get good suppression on it, gets sketchy with pop-up AA and better and more numerous MANPADS.

      One way to improve things might be to reduce the observability of the ground-attack craft.

    368. Re:Drone It by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      Nope it's smart. If I can do that, and demonstrate that I can destroy you with impunity, you might realize that you really should just surrender. Then the killing stops.

    369. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It also gives them all a common engine, cockpit, and ejection system, which makes keeping spares on hand easier.

      Is it common to go through a lot of spare ejection systems? ;)

      (* I know it could be, because they could fail in normal not-use, or need to be swapped out for maintenance. But it sounds funny. :)

    370. Re:Drone It by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      Well, if you have such great advantages, why should I stand in the middle of a field and let you drop bombs on me? Why shouldn't I go and hide in areas full of innocents? Because it's cowardly to hide where you won't shoot?

      If you want to hide, go right ahead. Except sooner or later I might get annoyed enough to hunt you down wherever you are.

      It's equally cowardly to drop a bomb on me from well outside my range of engagement.

      It's not cowardly, it's smart. Why expose your troops to enemy fire when you don't have to. Remember, the goal is to kill more of the enemy than they kill of you.

      So basically, you can argue all you like but you're not going to talk the enemy into engaging in a fight they can't win: to do so would be stupid.

      Then they should surrender and stop fighting.

    371. Re:Drone It by Loki_1929 · · Score: 2

      a) None of those are stealth.

      The F-22 is (in fact it has better stealth than the JSF) and so is the B-2 (also has better stealth than the JSF, but you called it out in your other reply so we'll let that one slide).

      The others don't need stealth to fulfill their respective roles.

      b) None of those can fulfill the roles of any of the others.

      Correct. The F-22 is extremely stealthy and will clear our whatever aircraft the enemy puts in the skies. It also has limited ground strike capability, but that's a real waste. The B-2 (also extremely stealthy, possibly more than the F-22) is then clear to come in and start really pounding ground defenses. You take out all the stationary radar, SAM sites, AAA, C&C, etc with that while the F-22 provides protection. You don't risk lucky shots against your B-2s by sending them after less heavily defended targets; you just use them to clear a path for your remaining forces so they don't face anti-air defenses.

      Once all appreciable anti-air has been destroyed and the enemy can't put a plane in the sky without F-22s dropping it, you're free to send in your non-stealth aircraft. F-16s bomb the Hell out of stationary targets and can provide some target-of-opportunity strike capability. A-10s take out mobile infantry, supply convoys, etc. AC-130s and A-10s provide your close-in air support for whatever ground missions you need to complete your objectives. Each has its own distinct role to play; one thing it's great at doing. Used together, you get the best of all worlds.

      c) They're all old designs that don't look good on a budget request.

      Depends on what you mean by "doesn't look good on a budget request". As a taxpayer, they sure as Hell look good to me. They're much cheaper than JSFs and each is much more capable at the specific job it's intended to do. Those "old designs" have all the bugs worked out of them and are reliable as can be. And when one does break down, it costs peanuts to repair or replace it. If the folks in charge of the budget don't think that looks good, we need to fire them immediately.

      d) Particularly a $1 Trillion request.

      We could buy so many of those things for $1 Trillion that we wouldn't have pilots to fly them all. So we'd buy a few less than that and train enough pilots to fly them. The result would be a force so large that we could run dozens of simultaneous sorties 24/7/365 and overwhelm anyone anywhere with omnipresent force.

      So we'll have a very expensive plane that does nothing particularly well, but we'll have a lot of them, and against almost any opponent we're likely to face it will be literally invincible because getting through stealth (even the Gen 1 Stealth of the F-117) is a lot harder then it looks in a Navy white paper.

      Actually, getting through stealth isn't that bad when using low-frequency ground based radar. Getting through it in the air is a challenge. That's why the advanced stealth of the F-22 and the B-2 are a much better fit for early combat: they'll have vastly better survivability than the JSF. For later in the campaign - when the enemy no longer has effective anti-air defenses - there's no reason to fly significant amounts of costly aircraft sorties. At that point, you want to fly legions of cheap, effective aircraft in and pin down the enemy so they can't so much as glance out from under the rocks they're hiding under without JDAMs raining down on them from all directions.

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    372. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      I guess those sanctions are more effective then we'd hoped.

    373. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      a) None of those are stealth.

      The F-22 is (in fact it has better stealth than the JSF) and so is the B-2 (also has better stealth than the JSF, but you called it out in your other reply so we'll let that one slide).

      The others don't need stealth to fulfill their respective roles.

      Dangit, missed two of them, not one.

      "Need to fulfill a role" is heavily dependent on the role. With F-35 as ground attack craft you can send the ground attack craft in before the B-2s and F-22s are quite finished turning the local air defense system into mincemeat. OTOH, it probably can't take A-10-style low-level missions even after the local air defense is gone because it's more vulnerable to gunfire and it goes too fast.

      So the Air Force probably will simply redefine the roles so that A-10s are obsolete and F-35 is the only possible answer.

      c) They're all old designs that don't look good on a budget request.

      Depends on what you mean by "doesn't look good on a budget request". As a taxpayer, they sure as Hell look good to me. They're much cheaper than JSFs and each is much more capable at the specific job it's intended to do. Those "old designs" have all the bugs worked out of them and are reliable as can be. And when one does break down, it costs peanuts to repair or replace it. If the folks in charge of the budget don't think that looks good, we need to fire them immediately.

      And who in DC have the taxpayers elected who actually wants to keep government efficient?

      The Republicans (and their allies in the Conservative movement) talk a good game, but when it comes to military spending literally the only time they've willingly cut it is that time they realized a useless artillery system was being designed in a black guy's district.

      The Democrats hate military spending in theory because it crowds out their social spending priorities, but love it in practice because Boeing/Lockheed/etc. are smart enough to throw a certain amount of the work the union's way.

      Which means if I'm a USAF Two-Star, and I want to make Lieutenant General, my proposed budget includes $0 for older aircraft that cost very little money, and as much as I can get away with in a brand-new type.

      d) Particularly a $1 Trillion request.

      We could buy so many of those things for $1 Trillion that we wouldn't have pilots to fly them all. So we'd buy a few less than that and train enough pilots to fly them. The result would be a force so large that we could run dozens of simultaneous sorties 24/7/365 and overwhelm anyone anywhere with omnipresent force.

      That's one potential strategy. But lots of pilots means lots of potential casualties, and this is no longer the country that lost 26k at the Muese River in WWI. The whole US Military has been going towards relatively few, very well-trained, very low-casualty operations since 'Nam. And even 'Nam (for all the Baby Boomers bitching about it) was extremely low casualty compared to the Bulge, Okinawa or the Overland Campaign. Call the modern model the warrior-monk model.

      Congress loves spending lots of money per warrior-monk, but really really really hates it when any of them dies because the American people do not fucking know how to deal with the death of anyone under 65.

      Thus we'll get thousands of warrior-monks piloting ridiculously expensive F-35s, rather then 10-15k piloting much cheaper (and in some ways, that do not cost lots of money, superior) older airframes.

      So we'll have a very expensive plane that does nothing particularly well, but we'll have a lot of them, and against almost any opponent we're likely to face it will be literally invincible because getting through ste

    374. Re:Drone It by Loki_1929 · · Score: 1

      So for $1 Trillion, we can maybe step up part of the now-more-limited capability (loss of A-10 capability, smaller number of aircraft requiring longer maintenance intervals between sorties) air campaign? Maybe? And we're doing this because our elected officials have constructed a system of perverse incentives that discourages efficiency and competence and encourages ludicrous waste?

      (None of this being news to me, just confirming we're on the same page; in which case we're talking about two different things. I'm speaking of what ought to happen in a sane, sensible world and you're speaking of what will actually happen because unrestricted representative democracy has yielded idiocy, incompetence, and impotence at the top.)

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    375. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      But it demonstrated that it only takes a little effort focused on the right place, without arms, to get the same result.

    376. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      The F-16 itself could be out-dog-fought by almost any plane built in the 30s,

      Citation?

      because Biplanes are much more maneuverable then jets

      If you believe that a bi-plane could beat an F16 in a real world dogfight then there's no point continuing this...

    377. Re:Drone It by khallow · · Score: 1

      No, we don't even have evidence that anyone even tried. I think it's silly to conflate willfully negligent economic and fiscal decisions for at least a couple of decades (and really ever since the 1950s off and on) with actual enemy action.

    378. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      I doubt the Chinese plan will work for more then a day, because you can always deconnect the aircraft from it's network and reinstall the software.

      This thing has been in development for 20 years, and you think it can all be changed in 1 day? Each day your plane is not in the air you people are being killed. That doesn't sound like such a great defence strategy. At least the F16/18's will still be there to pick up the slack

    379. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Why not? I'm not saying anyone did this time around, but it doesn't take a genius to work out that certain actions have certain results, and if you want those results then you can invest some effort into making those actions happen.
      There have been plenty of cases historically of countries attacking other countries via economic means. Not all wars are fought with bullets, and now that everything is done on computer, it has to be included in any battle strategy.

    380. Re:Drone It by Xest · · Score: 1

      Yep exactly, Russia's current economic problems really do pretty make yank it out of the 5th gen fighter race.

      I suspect of those 12, a few will be used as demonstrators/test beds, a few will be mothballed for spares, and 3 - 5 will be used for Putin's annual small penis parade in Red Square.

      The only thing holding the project together at all right now is Indian funding, but after the 5th test jet basically caught fire and it's entire rear end just isn't salvageable coupled with the fact Russia prevented Indian technicians inspecting it, and refuse to tell India what went wrong, coupled with Russia reducing the amount of work India is allowed to do in building the jet I can't see India putting up with it much longer.

      China can continue because it's both economically strong, and has stolen have of the Western plans to build a 5th gen fighter, but I don't see Russia being able to stay in the game. It's effectively traded Crimea and turmoil in Ukraine for it's ability to have a first class military. Oops.

    381. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      The hardware can't.

      But it should be relatively trivial to figure out which vector the Chinese software is using to tell the plane to shut down and turn that off somewhere. Then you flash the ROMs with software with that vector turned off, and you've got a fighting unit. It's not necessarily at 100% (the attack vector was probably useful militarily, after all), but it's fighting and 1500-2000 fifth Gen fighters are more then the Chinese can handle. They're still flying 400-500 J-7s, which are a variant of the Mig-21s that gave us so much trouble in Vietnam.

      Given the nature of software, and the number of minds thrown at something like this, it's actually pretty likely our plane would be at 100% within a few days of the hack being discovered.

      The long-term problem a hack like this causes is that their pilots would have fairly intimate familiarity with how our planes work, as would their weapons designers, not that turning them off via software will win the damn war.

    382. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Citation? The definition of a dogfight -- a gun and visual range battle of maneuver at close range.

      Watch an air show. The number one best thing to have in a dogfight is maneuverability. Biplanes are incredibly maneuverable because they weigh next to nothing, don't go fast, and have two wings worth of flaps moving air around. F-16s are 0 for 3. And at close range a battle of maneuver always goes to the guy who can out-turn.

      The reason F-16s are better in real-life combat (as opposed to ridiculous scenarios that don't mean shit in real life, like dogfighting ability) is they can end the dogfight by running away at Mach fucking 2, and then re-engage until they get the proper angle to kill the Gladiator before he realizes he should be fucking turning, which counts as going like 1 kill, 97 times running like a little bitch, but surviving until the end of the day.

    383. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      The poor Russians. The Chinese are now building new Sukhoi's without a license, they don't have the economic clout to stop selling them the latest version of the Sukhoi, and they can't afford to replace it with a Fifth-Gen. Couldn't have happened to a nicer country.

      I have no idea how their control of our plans will help the Chinese. I suspect they'll know what we're doing, and may have a plane that looks like ours, but won't be able to make it work as well (they know where to put that part, but don't know why to put that part), which means we still have an advantage.

    384. Re:Drone It by Xest · · Score: 1

      Yep, I think you're exactly right. Theft of plans is in no way going to let China reproduce exactly what we have, we'll still always have the edge, if not only because we're ahead on material science and they just don't have the facility or knowhow to produce cutting edge materials like we do.

      It does however allow them to skip some of the expensive stages of design, have a look here:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      or here:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      You'll note that the profile is based heavily on the F-22 and F-35, but you'll see that the engines aren't in any way stealthy. It seems clear that they were able to take the main measurements and angles of the F-35 and F-22 in key areas and produce them precisely to minimise radar signature that way, but that they have no fucking idea how the F-22s stealthy vectored thrust engines work so have just shoved some run of the mill engines into the things.

      It really just lets them get something to market faster than they otherwise would that contains a fraction of the functionality of the original western version. Other areas they may struggle are by way of software, if they've stolen the latest code to actively scan radar signatures for example then that let's them match us there, but if they haven't then that's yet another way in which their aircraft will be inferior.

      So it's a question of how much and what they have stolen, but it's pretty clear by the profile alone that they've made use of at least some stolen information, but how much beyond the rough external visual profile is anyone's guess.

      Of course, at the end of the day, they're also just copying aircraft that we're already just churning out on the production line. As they're designing and refining their clones of aircraft we're already using in active duty, we'll already be designing the next gen quietly in the background. There are enough mysterious flights around of unknown aircraft that the chances are we're already quietly demonstrating the next gen, just as they're flying demonstrators of 5th gen.

      And that's really the problem with them opting to be sheep and following, when you're just a follower you don't get to choose direction, and that's what keeps the West's qualitative advantage - the fact that we lead, the fact that by following they're always going to be one step behind us.

    385. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      but it's fighting and 1500-2000 fifth Gen fighters are more then the Chinese can handle.

      Well about 150 at this stage. And the Chinese won't be fighting them because they'll all be on the ground with software issues.
      It's no big deal because the rest of the fleet is more than capable of taking care of any other air force in the world right now, but it begs the question, why do we need these?
      In an age of Drones and IEDs, what good as a super fighter in a modern war?
      Fair enough if you've got nothing, but if you've already got the biggest and best air force, then wouldn't that money be better spent elsewhere? If I was a foreign force, I'd be investing in swarm technology. How will a $Trillion plane cope with 100,000 small disposable drones in a dogfight?

    386. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Yes, but the F35 doesn't have that luxury, as demonstrated by USAF tests. So in a real world combat situation today, the F16 beats both the F35 and the Sopwith Camel.
      I'm sure they'll fix the issues and in another 10 or so years the F35 will be fantastic. The unfortunate part is that by then we'll no longer need fighter planes, since drones will be able to maintain an air shield much more effectively and cheaply.
      $1Trillion can buy you 400,000 Predator Drones. How do you think the F35 would cope with that sort of opposition?

    387. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      In an ideal world they'd probably be building a new version of the A-10. Something has to have advanced in the field of aircraft design since my Mom's 21st birthday. The F-16, AC-130, were also all designed well before Mom hit the big-21.

      But in the real world we've got a ridiculously complicated system of government, specifically designed so that nobody is actually Responsible for the entire result, lest one Evil Man corrupt the process, and the (in hindsight predictable) result is that everyone milks his tiny little section of the system for all it;s worth and nobody can strop him.

    388. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      As I said before, software issues like this are trivial for a country the size of the US to solve.

      As for the swarm, trouble is that would either need great AI or hundreds of thousands of pilots. And decent pilots cost the USAF more then $1 million in training before they even show up at their first squadron assignment.

      Since combat aircraft are hellishly expensive (it's very difficult to find one new-built for under $15 million, and aircraft period for under $100k are virtually impossible to find), and you'd need something like 10-1 to actually get close enough to a Mach 1.6 stealth fighter to use your numbers, the swarm strategy would probably cost more in the short term then buying F-35s. In the long-term, with AI, and the proper economies of scale, you might be able to make it work, but you might also turn into the guy who thought that invading Iraq with 100k guys would be a cinch because this new technique of maneuver warfare made the old standards obsolete.

      And of course the biggest problem is that you have to have all-weather, day-night, drones that can operate to 16 clicks, with miraculous RADAR either on the ground or incorporated within the drone itself, because a 10,000 drone strategy requires a 10,000 drone airbase; and if the B-2 Spirit can fly in on a rainy night at 15.1 clicks and blow everything up while it's still on the ground if you a) don;t have a welcoming committee in the air to wait for it and b) don't have the RADAR to find the damn B-2s BEFORE they level your precious airbase.

    389. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      In real world combat situations the F-16 dies before it detects the F-35. That's what stealth technology is. Now if you're a western-style democracy, with a good education system, and en extremely expensive air defense network, your ground stations can probably tell the F-16 where the F-35 is. But they can't give it a missile lock, so all that means is that they're pointed towards the enemy when the missiles start heading their way. Which is why the Air Force would use a combination of B-2s and F-22s to take out your air defense RADARs and missile batteries (ground RADAR can give those a missile lock) before sending the F-35s in.

      And it doesn't matter how many Predators you have. F-35 flies at 60k feet, they can only go up to 25k. 2,000 F-35s at 50k feet are just fine, and immune to drone attacks, but they can drop 8,000 bombs on your drone base per sorty. Which means the question isn't whether the two types ever meet in combat, it's whether the air-defenses of a base capable of supporting 2,000 F-35s can hold out against 400k slow, low service ceiling, etc. drones better then the base for 400k drones can hold out against 2,000 F-35s. And the 2,000 F-35 base has a major logistical advantage, and can also actually use older low-tech weapons such as machine guns and WW-2-era RADAR effectively.

      Almost none of aerial warfare since the Battle of Britain has turned on which side had better planes. It's all been about protecting your ground-based facilities.

    390. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      The Chinese are always interesting. Always looking for a shortcut that just happens to put the rest of the world into a "fuck you China" mood.

      In this case they probably could have developed a fighter 80% as good as the F-35 on their own, and then built twice as many of them, but no. They just built a worse F-35, which will be harder to export (the Chinese knock-off is only a prestige purchase if nobody knows you bought the Chinese knock-off), and will hit that 80% number if they're lucky.

    391. Re:Drone It by Loki_1929 · · Score: 1

      In an ideal world they'd probably be building a new version of the A-10. Something has to have advanced in the field of aircraft design since my Mom's 21st birthday. The F-16, AC-130, were also all designed well before Mom hit the big-21.

      What's the age got to do with anything? We have working airframes; working designs that are proven to be exceptional at their respective jobs. We could spend a whole bunch of time, money, and lives (test pilots mostly, and some regular ones too during initial roll-out) on new designs, but we'll get maybe slightly better (or possibly slightly worse) performance out of them and in the end we'll net out behind.

      Fire up the plants and start rolling new A-10s and F-16s off the assembly line (alone with F-22s). Streamline the manufacturing so they're produced as inexpensively as possible. If we find how to do their jobs better in 20 years, we'll have wasted only some minor resources in manufacturing, so the risk is minimal. They're a fantastic investment. Own the skies with the F-22, the ground defenses with the B-2, and everything else with cheap, effective aircraft.

      I know our government doesn't like that because it isn't porked up all to shit, but it's the right way to move forward militarily.

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    392. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Except of course it would be mighty hard to get export orders for aircraft that old, and half the military point of the program is to lock countries like Canada into a long-term alliance with the US Military. When you're the Hegemon everything you do has to suit both short-term tactical needs as well as long-term Strategic and Grand Strategic needs.

      Moreover, historically one of the strengths of the US Air Force was that (at least prior to the 70s) it would have multiple types in each role, which encouraged competition and somewhat turkey-proofed the force. So adding an A-13 modernized Warthog, and F-36 new Lightweight Interceptor would be very useful.

    393. Re:Drone It by Loki_1929 · · Score: 1

      So adding an A-13 modernized Warthog, and F-36 new Lightweight Interceptor would be very useful.

      Not at a $Trillion a program. It crowds our spending for stuff that actually works. I think the first-wave stuff should be top-of-the-line stuff that we dump R&D into to keep it 20+ years ahead of everybody else and I think the first-wave stuff should be capable of making it safe for everything else to fly pretty much unchallenged. After that, give me cheap stuff that works. We can have multiple types of aircraft in each role, but they need to be cheap to design, cheap to build, and cheap to fly.

      The F-16D's unit cost is $27.4 Million. A fleet of 1000 of those costs you $2.74 Billion (which over 5 years is pocket change).
      The F-35's unit cost (averaged between the three models, which range from $148 Million to $337 Million) is $245 Million each (no R&D costs included, just building one). A fleet of 1000 then costs $245 Billion. Over 5 years, that will consume 9% of the entire DOD budget. For one plane. One shitty plane that can't dogfight and whose cockpit is too tight to allow pilots to look behind them.

      The F-35 doesn't even have a well-defined role. The F-22 rules the skies; bar none. The B-2 owns all ground targets regardless of ground defenses. What's left that we need a plane that costs up to $337 Million before we put gas, weapons, or a trained pilot in it?

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    394. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      I believe you forgot a decimal point. 1000 times $27.4 Million is $27.4 Billion. Not that it changes the argument any.

      What F-35 adds is partly modern features like Stealth that make it more survivable then F-16, but also strategically locks in our neighbors to the US weapons ecosystem. Unless you want to sell the Canadians a bunch of F-22s.

      Which is wasteful in dollar terms, but hey. If we'd wanted any given department of the government to be efficient we'd have waited on the independence thing until the Brits had developed Responsible Government.

    395. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Let me put on my evil villain hat and play this out (just for the sake of the discussion)
      With a Drone swarm, you don't necessarily need a base, or an airfield. If I was an evil dictator, I'd have my forces already infiltrating the enemy nation as regular immigrants. Each agent could have a small drone in their garage, and launch it off their local street in a co-ordinated attack.
      To add some diversity to the strategy I could have launchers built inside container ships and airliners, along with regular aircraft carriers or even frigates. 10,000 drones is then quite feasible, and mostly unstoppable with something like a F35 (Or F16, or B2 or other).
      I'd have a similar strategy for micro drone subs to take out major maritime targets.
      The swarm strategy is not designed to win dogfights, it bypasses the enemy defence altogether and hits targets before any reasonable defence is useful. (and can accept a massive attrition rate while still succeeding in its mission)
      It might sound far-fetched but so did Pearl Harbour and 9/11 before it happened.

    396. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      2,000 F-35s at 50k feet are just fine, and immune to drone attacks,

      You don't have 2000, you have 150, because they cost so damn much. This is sort of my point. Any defence needs aircraft numbers in the thousands. Like the B2, the F35 will be too expensive to use and therefore pointless.

      Almost none of aerial warfare since the Battle of Britain has turned on which side had better planes. It's all been about protecting your ground-based facilities.

      That's right. The US has had the best planes since WW2 yet still hasn't won any major war since. Why do you think that is? Planes aren't such great defence against IEDs and suicide bombers.

    397. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      2,000 F-35s at 50k feet are just fine, and immune to drone attacks,

      You don't have 2000, you have 150, because they cost so damn much. This is sort of my point. Any defence needs aircraft numbers in the thousands. Like the B2, the F35 will be too expensive to use and therefore pointless.

      A $1 Trillion budget definitely you 2,000 F-35s, because that's what we're spending and we're getting 2,400 of the damn things.

      And in point of fact, there are precisely two air forces in the world with thousands of combat aircraft. And it's far from clear the Chinese have any aircraft that could out-dog-fight an F-16, much less detect an F-35 and survive it's air-to-air missiles long enough to start a dogfight with it. The Russians are at 1,900, and their fifth-generation fighter project has just been shelved indefinitely because they can't afford it (sanctions), and the Indians (~1,100 or so) decided that paying 100% of development costs for somebody else's plane was a stupid plan they were not gonna go along with.

      Almost none of aerial warfare since the Battle of Britain has turned on which side had better planes. It's all been about protecting your ground-based facilities.

      That's right. The US has had the best planes since WW2 yet still hasn't won any major war since. Why do you think that is? Planes aren't such great defence against IEDs and suicide bombers.

      In the Air Force's defense, it's not their fault that the President insists on dragging them into land wars in Asia.

    398. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      The problem with basing the dang things in immigrants houses is it doesn't scale. 400k immigrants are not a small number, so somebody would notice, and if one guy decides to tell his American girlfriend about why he's got a huge plane in his garage you're screwed.

      A 10,000 drone force would take some time to track down, but any base capable of supporting an aircraft that actually has air-to-air-combat specs (ie: 300 MPH speed, 50k feet service ceiling, a couple hard-points and the range to make them useful) is not gonna be hard to track down. The Navy is quite good at nailing surface warships, landing strips look very obvious from above, it's hard to disguise shipments of AvGas as anything else, etc.

      Pretty much the only way this strategy works is if you use submarines (which presents interesting coordination issues when the drone needs to land), or you also have some amazing solar-powered aircraft tech that allows you to go pretty much base-free. Right now with enough money you can get an Octocopter with solar in the air, but giving it the speed so that cocky little ground-pounders with their tiny little M-16s couldn't take it out, a sufficiently high service ceiling that the F-35 can't out-dog-fight it, all-weather operation, and the hard-points so that it's a threat would probably wipe out your budgetary savings vs. the F-35.

    399. Re:Drone It by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      In the Air Force's defense, it's not their fault that the President insists on dragging them into land wars in Asia.

      What I find strange is that a President invests in such a large airstrike capability, but then spends decades picking fights that require no advanced air strike capability.
      I was taught at school back in the cold war days that the future of war will be small, land based, counter insurgency style (ie what effectively panned out in the 30 years since). If my teacher got that, and I got it, how come the POTUS doesn't get it?

    400. Re:Drone It by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      The Air Force is like the Navy. We always spend a lot on both in the hopes we'll never have to use them.

      It also makes those counter-insurgencies easier on the Strategic and Grand Strategic level, because Poland is a lot more likely to contribute boots on the ground to an effort led by the guys who can definitely keep Russia out of their skies then they would contribute to a country that had 350k in light infantry sitting around just in case Iraq needed to be invaded.

      In many ways things like this (and most of the Navy) are prestige purchases in the sense that they cost a lot of money that will only be useful under extremely unusual circumstances, but in the real world a hegemon has to make a lot of those or the non-hegemon states will be like "Dude, I don't need you for light infantry and 40-year-old-planes. I have light infantry and 40-year-old-planes and I can barely afford to educate my people to the 10th grade level."

      On a somewhat related note, perhaps if the last guy had gone through that course you're talking about (which was presumably given by a bunch of Light Infantry/Spec Ops guys) perhaps he would not have fallen for Rummy's (paraphrasing, because I can't find the exact quote) "it beggars belief that it will take more men to hold Iraq then take it" line.

    401. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All of that sounds great except for the fact you are living in the past. Conventional wars are history.

    402. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Appeal to popularity.

    403. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So we're all in agreement then. This will cost at least a trillion dollars, and it will not outperform any single airframe at any role. We could have housed and fed every homeless person in the country, but lets do this instead.

    404. Re:Drone It by segedunum · · Score: 1

      The F-35 and especially the F-22 have a hopeless record at being able to stay airworthy for any length of time. They are always in maintenance for one problem or another. I'm not sure where you're getting your figures from, but for a plane that's been in development for well over two decades and where there is no sign whatsoever when it will be operationally ready you're hopelessly optimistic.

    405. Re:Drone It by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      And then took a big bloody nose from the inferior Migs.

      That only held true until graduates of the Navy's new Fighter Weapons School showed up, whereupon the kill ratio became 13-to-1 (our favor).

    406. Re:Drone It by garyebickford · · Score: 1

      It's possibly worth noting that according to some thing I read a year or two ago, biologists who knew such things believed that the reason bears died out in Africa lo these many years ago is that they are omnivores, and designed to do reasonably well at many things but are not optimized for any of them. But Africa gradually became populated by specialists who did _one thing_ very well, and the bears were gradually out-competed at everything.

      --
      It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
    407. Re:Drone It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Radar doesn't have to see the plane, it only needs to see the wingtip vortex and all those planes light up nicely. Detecting the vortex is the same problem that weather radar uses to detect wind sheer and tornados forming. There are rumors that OU-Prime is down is because it was picking up F22 that were flying into Tinker AFB from hundreds of miles away. This can be done using a pulse transmitter and a scanning receiver at a second location which allows for cheap disposable transmitters and hidden receivers. It is very expensive to blow away transmitters that are flying on weather baloons.

    408. Re: Drone It by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      The various Arab Human Development Reports actually say they're largely illiterate.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    409. Re:Drone It by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      They don't even need to be *that much* better at turning, they just need to have non-dumb guidance (no LOS or any similar crap, and as fast a reaction time as possible).

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    410. Re:Drone It by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Not if it's directional (a small dish aimed at a satellite), and perhaps being frequency-agile helps even further (as far as (and to the extent that) I understand RF, simultaneous wide-band reception should make it more difficult to intercept due to noise).

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  2. The project known as F-35 by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2
    The problems are well known yet development of the jet continues.

    ...Most recently, there have been concerns over its computer systems' vulnerability, and Chinese hackers have possibly stolen classified data related to the project....

    1. Re:The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Military = Conservative Welfare

    2. Re:The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Most recently the planes have been starting on fire during take-off. Strange that we spent so much money developing a plane that has fuel lines that can leak directly into the engines and parts from the burning engine then fly through the rest of the plane. Maybe they should bring back the slide-rules. Might force the designers to think more.

    3. Re:The project known as F-35 by bhcompy · · Score: 2

      It's a first generation multirole stealth fighter(the F-117 is not a fighter and the F-22 is not multirole). The F-4(again, a first generation multirole fighter) was a boondoggle when it first released as well, and took many many variants to get right. The lessons learned on the F-4 turned directly into the F-14, F-15, F-16, and F/A-18.

    4. Re:The project known as F-35 by fermion · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In the US these military projects are the primary method for conservatives to get pork into their district. No conservative is going to vote against wasting money on useless weapon systems. To be honest, not all of the money is wasted. Some of this money goes into basic research that results in actually useful technology that helps the US in long term competitiveness. Some of it keeps important firms from bankruptcy, firms we need for national security. But I think this could be done much more efficiently through well overseen civilian programs. To be further honest the pork here is bipartisan. While almost every states in the union get some of the money, most of it appears to go to Texas and California.And of course the executives a Lockheed-Martin are not going to continue the bribes to congress if they is no longer a program. And the jobs at the pentagon are going to be lost if there is no longer a jobs program to manage.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    5. Re:The project known as F-35 by rahvin112 · · Score: 2

      There hasn't been a dog fight between aircraft since Air-to-Air missiles such as the sidewinder appeared (IIRC it was around Vietnam that the last dog fight occurred). With the F-35 the air-force made a tactical decision that missile technology had made dog fighting a thing of the past.

      Missile tech is so good these days that fighters can kill each other without ever seeing the other plane. And the missiles are so good they are very difficult to evade once locked in.

    6. Re: The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't recall the details exactly but the last dog fight where an American jet was used wasn't that many years ago. I think it was an Israeli piloting an F-15 that took out a Mig-something in a dog fight. But dog fighting ability is a very important thing with fighter jets.

      Actually with respect to fighter jet kill ratio in the Vietnam war, it has been said to be lower because dog fighting wasn't emphasized in training.

      Think of it like this. If you are in battle and both you and the bad guy are all out of bullets, how glad are you that they still train hand to hand combat?

    7. Re:The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The F-4 was NOT intended as a multirole fighter. It was designed as a carrier-based interceptor for the US Navy, which it did better than any competitors for that from day 1. It turned out to be such a good aircraft that it was adopted for the multirole mode by the USAF, USMC and many foreign nations. In the multirole mode it received changes and variants, but that was to improve it for missions it wasn't designed for, and which it eventually did better than most purpose built aircraft.

    8. Re: The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I can outrun the guy, I don't need to be good at hand combat.

    9. Re:The project known as F-35 by Wraithlyn · · Score: 1

      That would be a strategic decision, not tactical.

      --
      "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
    10. Re:The project known as F-35 by ogdenk · · Score: 1

      The reason the F4 had cannons at all is because Air-to-Air missiles weren't enough in Vietnam. When you run out of missiles you need a backup. We had sidewinders in Vietnam.

    11. Re:The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      US Navy F-14's were in a dogfight in 1989 with Libyian MiGs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Sidra_incident_%281989%29)... Interestingly enough the dog fight portion of the engagement occurred because the RIO of the first F-14 launched his missiles with the wrong setting resulting in a failure of the initial missile engagement. The missiles that eventually ended the engagement were fired from 5 miles or less and after combat maneuvering had begun.

    12. Re:The project known as F-35 by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 1

      That's what they said about the F-4 in the 60's. Then they had to put a cannon on it real fast after theory met reality in the skies over Vietnam.

    13. Re:The project known as F-35 by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

      If it's a kill with a missile it's not dog fighting. This tendency to call any kill within visual range dog fighting is inaccurate. The maneuverability becomes pretty irrelevant once the missile(s) locked on target. Your only real countermeasure at the point is flares, chaff or ECM depending on missile type.

      Dog fighting as it's being referred to in this article is chasing down and trying to hit them with a cannon. It just doesn't happen anymore, the last time a plane was shot down with another planes cannon was during Vietnam. Bullets are absolutely worthless unless you are pretty close together and moving at subsonic speeds. A plane like the F-22 or F-35 with supercruise can simply gun the speed and a bullet will never hit them because it can't close the distance before gravity takes it, unless the one firing the cannon is 20' behind them.

      This effort to define dog fighting as any fight within visual range is just BS to try to harm the F-35 program. I'd rather buy F-35's at this point because they are cheaper than an F-18 to build (current build costs on the F-35 are 80 million while the F-18 costs well over 100 million). And their electronic capabilities far exceed everything else, and those capabilities are what will win the next war.

    14. Re:The project known as F-35 by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

      gun fighting is dog fighting, but dog fighting isn't gun fighting. There have been plenty of dogfights that involved missiles and many occurred after Vietnam.

    15. Re:The project known as F-35 by ProfDD · · Score: 1

      Right. One is always "stuck" with what is available when needed. The Air Force had no good choice other than the F-4 if its fighter pilots were to participate in the Vietnam War.

      In the eyes of impractical people, there is always a superior alternative to what is currently actually available. Such people seem to operate in a world that is not much constrained by time, so hindsight seems to them to be the same as foresight.

    16. Re:The project known as F-35 by Xest · · Score: 1

      "There hasn't been a dog fight between aircraft since Air-to-Air missiles such as the sidewinder appeared (IIRC it was around Vietnam that the last dog fight occurred)."

      That isn't true, British Harriers shot down a number of aircraft in dog fights using cannon fire. Sea Harriers scored kills against at least one Pucara, two A-4 Skyhawks, a C-130 and a couple of helicopters in this way. You argue the helicopters, the C-130 and maybe even the Pucara at a stretch weren't really much of a dogfight, but if nothing else the Skyhawk engagements were.

      I believe there were some later engagements too in the middle east in the late 80s and maybe even the 90s.

      Though regardless I think your point still holds a lot of merit, even if dogfights do occur, they occur so rarely as to be a meaningless metric of the quality of a fighter over it's ability to shoot shit down with missiles.

    17. Re:The project known as F-35 by Reason58 · · Score: 1

      the F-117 is not a fighter

      Refresh my memory. What does the F stand for again?

    18. Re:The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't kid yourself, the JSF has workers in almost all 50 states. This isn't a left vs right issue.

    19. Re: The project known as F-35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And now the bad guy is still alive and killing Americans. Good job running away.

    20. Re:The project known as F-35 by bhcompy · · Score: 1

      The F doesn't mean shit. It's a ground attack fighter. No air to air capabilities

    21. Re:The project known as F-35 by Reason58 · · Score: 1

      So it is a fighter?

  3. just let it go by thaylin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We have tools built decades earlier that was better. Why cant we just let this go, a trillion dollars is a lot of friggen money, dont keep adding to it. If the vendor cannot come through on their promises cut them and go with someone who will.

    --
    When you cant win, ad hominem.
    1. Re:just let it go by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

      Yeah no kidding.

      By all appearances the Boeing X-32 was way superior anyway.... perhaps they should re-visit that...

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    2. Re:just let it go by goarilla · · Score: 1

      Now they are trying another tactic: having international politicians lobby the rest of the world to buy them.

    3. Re:just let it go by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Welcome to Sunk Cost.

      Sucks, but breaking that addiction is incredibly hard... doubly so when egos are just as much on the line as money.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    4. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We have tools built decades earlier that was better. Why cant we just let this go, a trillion dollars is a lot of friggen money, dont keep adding to it. If the vendor cannot come through on their promises cut them and go with someone who will.

      Remember those people who say "[quack]Government Can't Do Anything Right[/quack]"? That "[quack]Government just wastes your hard-earned tax dollars[/quack]"?

      Yeah, Those people. They're the same ones who insist that only by spending the most possible money on military toys regardless of their effectiveness can we remain free to get strip-searched at domestic airports. They're the ones who insist on having this stuff built (in their home districts) regardless of whether or not the military actually wants it.

      Because it isn't welfare if you pay people to build stuff that will be blown up and thrown away.

    5. Re:just let it go by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      If they scrap it now, then they have to admit that they wasted a trillion dollars. But if they invest a few more hundred million then maybe that Nigerian Prince will send the money... I mean, maybe that airplane will work right.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    6. Re:just let it go by MightyYar · · Score: 2

      This goes both ways, though. Ignore the eleventy-trillion number for a moment. The only important thing is the cost-benefit analysis going forward: is it cheaper to start fresh, modify an existing airframe/frames, or fix problems with the F35?

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    7. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A trillion here, a trillion there... pretty soon you're talking big money.

    8. Re:just let it go by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      ...except they haven't "wasted a trillion dollars". The trillion dollar figure is for the cost of the plane for it's entire lifetime including the 20 or 30 so years from today it's supposed to remain operational.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    9. Re:just let it go by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 2

      I would rather like to know why the tax payer is on the hook for a failed project from a contractor? The US government needs to stop negotiating these one-sided contracts where we the buyer take all the liability. If the contractor fails, we don't pay, period.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    10. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many of these same people also intersect heavily with actual hard racists. It's not welfare if you pay people to kill people you believe aren't.

    11. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Put the top management all the various vendors in jail till they cough up the dough. Maybe the taxpayers can get at least a couple of pennies on the dollar.

    12. Re:just let it go by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      Besides, we'll still have enough change to cover the loss, with some left over.

    13. Re:just let it go by Woeful+Countenance · · Score: 1

      To be fair, the ONE TRILLION DOLLARS is estimated total program cost, including maintenance, for the whole 55-year lifetime of the program. "Only" about $400 billion is budgeted for acquiring the aircraft. I don't know how much has been spent so far. On the other hand, the estimate may turn out to be low. Ironically, one of the initial goals of the F-35 was to be cheaper than the F-22.

    14. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are assuming that our government can act rationally (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_choice_theory), that seldom works when egos get involved.

    15. Re:just let it go by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Heh, I certainly make no such assumption :)

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    16. Re:just let it go by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      ...except they haven't "wasted a trillion dollars". The trillion dollar figure is for the cost of the plane for it's entire lifetime including the 20 or 30 so years from today it's supposed to remain operational.

      Are you sure?

      My understanding is that $1 trillion is what has been spent SO FAR in the past 10 years of development.

    17. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congress critters and executive agencies don't work for us. They work for their donors or the industry they are supposed to rule over. In the case of the Pentagon, what do you think the high level brass do when they leave? Oh yeah, they work for the contractors they were formerly supposed to give unbiased assessments about. Quid pro quo?

    18. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Give Elon Musk half that... and I bet you'd get more planes that were more capable, and cheaper to maintain.

    19. Re:just let it go by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I don't think it was ever intended to be a weapon. It's just an expensive jobs program and a way to bring money to some legislators' districts.
      There's also the tendency to throw good money after bad rather than give up.

      The military is also too involved with all aspects of designs. That adds tremendously to the costs. The customer should stand at arms length away from the designers and not try to micromanage it.

    20. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are begging the question. The contractor didn't necessarily fail. I'll bet dogfighting ability wasn't a critical requirement.

      The government takes on the liability for a reason...they change their requirements continually. No reasonable company would take on the liability for a moving target.

    21. Re: just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dunno if you're joking, but: that's fallacious thinking. It's a sunk cost.

    22. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Make the vendor foot 100% of the bill until the aircraft meets the military requirements. Why should we pay for their bad designs?

    23. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because the contractor isn't the one who decided the plane needed to be able to do VTOL as well as everything else, after the fact. This whole project is a classic example of moving/changing requirements. A contractor didn't go to the government and say "Hey look at this new plane we are making. You might be interested in buying a few.", the government went to a contractor and said "Hey, build us this plane and it needs to be stealthy, do close ground combat support, short runway/carrier capable, air-to-air superiority, and air-to-ground support." And a few months/years go by, "Oh, and it needs to also be able to do S/VTOL, but that shouldn't change the price right?".

    24. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck off strawman humping BITCH.
      Not every fiscal conservative wants to nuke you

    25. Re:just let it go by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      I would rather like to know why the tax payer is on the hook for a failed project from a contractor? The US government needs to stop negotiating these one-sided contracts where we the buyer take all the liability. If the contractor fails, we don't pay, period.

      There just aren't enough mod points for this comment.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    26. Re:just let it go by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      If we put all the risk on the contractor, they stop submitting bids or jack up the bid by a very large amount to pay for insurance, as getting involved in a difficult project would mean massive costs and possibly bankruptcy. We also run the risk of finding that what we asked for is no longer sufficient, or was misunderstood (these programs take a long time) and wind up paying for a large number of aircraft that comply to pre-written specs that may not be useful any more. If we're going to have innovative weapons, we have to accept the fact that the weapons programs will get into trouble now and then, and we may have to make unplanned changes.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    27. Re:just let it go by suutar · · Score: 1

      The military would at least be able to set actual requirements. Too many of the requirements (one plane to rule them all, built everywhere...) were set by legislators.

    28. Re:just let it go by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 1

      Crazy thought. If the project is risky and requires a higher bid then would that not capture the inevitable rise in development cost we are currently experiencing with these projects? Perhaps different decisions would be made in light of more realistic bids? Bidding $100 on a job that you know full well is unlikely to come in under $1000 when completed would never be accepted in the private sector. Why do we allow it for these government contracts?

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    29. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What serious need for air combat does the US have? The last several "wars" we've had were all against goat farmers.

    30. Re:just let it go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They failed in every sense of the word. They were unable to meet their contracted requirements. As to your second nonsensical paragraph, literally EVERY company takes on moving targets. It's called a contract mod and it happens all the time. Do you know ANYTHING about business?

    31. Re:just let it go by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      This is why it is important to keep low-tech, inexpensively operated planes like the A-10 around. They've been so frequently used that the wings all wore out and they put new ones on. You still want to have a credible air force to protect the aircraft carriers and interests in Asia. Stealth is important to keep adversaries on their toes if they think they have air defenses squared away. Maybe the F-35 is the wrong plane, but you won't get to that decision by looking at how much was already spent - just what it will cost going forward.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  4. Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    WTF?! When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?
    The days of air-to-air combat are long gone. And where air-to-air combat is still needed, long range missiles take care of it.

    1. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by goarilla · · Score: 3, Informative

      Planes don't have an infinite amount of AAM missiles. At some point in time they will have to use their gatling guns.
      And quick bombing raids without additional air support are supposed to be the JSF's forte IIRC.

    2. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And where dog fights aren't needed, drones can be used.
      All in all the F-35 is completely pointless.

    3. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Penguinisto · · Score: 2

      *Most* air-air fights (what few still occur) are done at distance with missiles.

      However, many air-air combat aircraft are pressed into air-ground roles, and even otherwise, having a gun handy is very useful when you run out of missiles.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    4. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      The days of air-to-air combat are long gone. And where air-to-air combat is still needed, long range missiles take care of it.

      That's what they said fifty years ago. (When things like the nuclear-warhead AIR-2 Genie or AIM-26 Falcon were considered a good idea.) Turned out they were wrong. (Which is one reason the US did so lousy in the early stages of the air war over Vietnam ... because we weren't teaching pilots to dog fight. Later corrected by e.g. Top Gun.)

    5. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      WTF?! When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?
      The days of air-to-air combat are long gone. And where air-to-air combat is still needed, long range missiles take care of it.

      Well, the reality is, like shock and awe, you can't just pretend you don't have to cover certain parts of warfare.

      So, bombing the shit out of stuff and thinking people will become demoralized and welcome you with open arms ... utterly useless if you can't put boots on the ground. For the same reason that bombing ISIS only goes so far.

      And, likewise, if you can't maintain air superiority in an up close and personal manner, you can't do the roles like close air ground support. So if you do have boots on the ground, you can't keep them safe if you get your ass kicked.

      People can pretend this will never be needed again. That doesn't mean if you ever found yourself in an actual war you wouldn't.

      So, if the people you're up against have things which can beat you down in a dogfight, you could quickly find yourself realizing you're ill equipped for a given situation.

      Somewhere along the line they decided to make the Swiss-Army knife of aircraft, which it turns out is terribly suited to most of its applications.

      Which is moot, because the plane is so late and over budget it should never go into production .. in which case it's years of wasted money and effort to come up with a solution which doesn't work.

      Which, sadly, was what people said from the beginning.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Informative

      WTF?! When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?

      That's what they said when they built the Phantom with no cannon. That's why they had to hurriedly retrofit cannon for Vietnam, when Phantoms started getting into dogfights.

      As for long-range missiles, they've been the panacea for decades, but then the military impose rules of engagement requiring positive ID of the bad guy before you shoot, and suddenly you're not at long range any more.

    7. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They said that back in Vietnam, which is why the F-4 doesn't have a gun.

      You'll notice that the F-15 does have a gun.

      Looks like that: "we don't need a gun for dogfights" didn't work out that well.

    8. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by bradrum · · Score: 1

      The stupid STOVL capabilities killed it. The Swiss-Army Jet is a stupid idea

    9. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by rlwhite · · Score: 1

      The days of air-to-air combat are long gone because the US and allies haven't fought anyone who was competitive in that area in decades. If the US cedes superiority in dogfights, then opponents in future wars will be sure to dogfight every chance they get. Is the F35 good enough at stealth to avoid it? Are the long range missiles effective enough against countermeasures? Are the detection, range, and speeds appropriate enough to find and destroy enemy planes before they get into dogfight range? What if the opponent makes advances in stealth?

      I'm not at all an expert in this area, but I think we should be very careful that we aren't just fighting yesterday's wars.

    10. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, that was something important 50 years ago. But how many dogfight kills have been logged since Vietnam? Contrast that with BVR (Beyond Visual Range) kills.

    11. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      However, many air-air combat aircraft are pressed into air-ground roles

      This wouldn't be necessary if the Air Force wasn't obsessed with retiring the A-10. But then again, maintinaing an already existing airframe is much less profitable than government contract for R&D and production runs for a new airframe, and any general worth his stars would jump at the chance to leave his mark by helming the procurement of a major weapons system.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    12. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We heard this before, in the Vietnam era when they designed the F-4 without a cannon.

      Then we sustained completely unacceptable losses to a third world air force, the cannon was added back.

    13. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by pesho · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?

      In pretty much every war every war where both opponents had air capability, including the first Gulf war and the Balkan war. In the first Gulf war air-to-air combat usually happened after the pilots could get visual confirmation that the target is not a friendly. If you are in visual range you are pretty much in a dog fight. Pierre Sprey, the man who brought us the F16 and the A10, has the best description of the F-35:

      "A turkey. Cannot run, cannot hide and cannot fight"

      If you read the article, you will notice that the F-35 failed a test that was stacked in its favor - The F-35 did not carry any load, while the F16 was saddled with two external tanks.

    14. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by pesho · · Score: 1

      One more thing. You need the capability to turn, not only to dog-fight, but also to avoid missiles.

    15. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Has there even been an air-air fight between current gen aircraft since Vietnam?

      How do we even know where most air-air fights are if we aren't having them.

    16. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      They're still dog fighting. There's even an educable show about this. Some of that included the last Iraq war.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    17. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by asylumx · · Score: 2

      Also the F-4 Phantom famously didn't have a gun which made it much less useful than it really could have been. John Cheshire, who flew 197 missions in one, said this: "Bullets are cheap and tend to go where you aim them. I needed a gun, and I really wished I had one."

    18. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by stackOVFL · · Score: 1

      Exactly . Assuming we won't need ACM (dogfights) is the same exact mistake we made with the F-4 Phantom. From the simple fact that you might need to pop flares and get away from a missile to the fact that ACM will be needed if a enemy sneaks up on you. And turn rate is a chief parameter of winning a turning battle. The only way this pilot found to defeat the F-16 was a high yaw rate maneuver that dumped the planes energy (VERY risky idea). This JSF is what happens when all the cooks in the city try to make soup: it tastes horrid.

    19. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

      dogfights have outpaced bvr by 5.2:1.

    20. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by pastafazou · · Score: 2

      WTF?! When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?
      June 17th, 2015

    21. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by vought · · Score: 1

      TFX. The Navy's desires were built into the F-111 and they decided they wanted the F-14 anyway. This is the same story.

      Procurement isn't about getting the right weapon. It's about exercising a decision-maker's ego and getting votes back home.

    22. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by vought · · Score: 1

      Positive ID is obtained with IFF. Not sure why you'd have to wait until visual range for that.

    23. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 2

      On the plus side, the F-35 has an impressive GAU-12 25mm gun. It boasts a plentiful 180 rounds (F-35A internal gun), or 250 rounds (F-35B external mission pod). Given a rate of fire around 3600/min they ought to last even protracted battles.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    24. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      ooh, let me think... every air war in HISTORY?

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    25. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but then the military impose rules of engagement requiring positive ID of the bad guy before you shoot, and suddenly you're not at long range any more.

      IIRC all of the friendlies have IFF (Information Friend or Foe) transponders and the AWACS and satellite information at the base is probably sensitive enough to determine if the targets are friends or foes far outside of actual missile range.

      Most fights are missile-based with most pilots never knowing what hit them.

    26. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Planes don't have an infinite amount of AAM missiles. At some point in time they will have to use their gatling guns.

      Your cunning plan to use gatling guns is somewhat spoiled if the other guy has one more missile left. When you run out of missiles, it's better to dash back home to rearm than to get closer to the enemy to find out. I remain unconvinced as to the importance of Red Baron -era dogfighting ability.

    27. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Why do we need the aging A-10 again?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    28. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And the USN F-4's managed to achieve a higher victory ratio without a gun then the USAF did with their gun equipped phantoms.

      People have taken entirely the wrong lesson from the F-4. They think it was a mistake to leave out a gun. It wasn't. It was a mistake to not train F-4 pilots to fight to the aircrafts strengths. when training improved the Navy lost 1 phantom to every 5 migs shot down. The USAF never improved their training, stuck a gun on the F-4 and managed 3 to 1.

    29. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 1

      Because it has a sweet gun that makes a cool sound.

    30. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 1

      you can't just pretend you don't have to cover certain parts of warfare.

      The Air Force is well aware that dogfighting is still a possibility. That's why they built the F-22.

    31. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by 0123456 · · Score: 1

      For one thing, airliners don't carry IFF. For another, IFF is not infallible; if I remember correctly, the Tornado(s) the US ground missile batteries shot down in the Gulf had IFF, but it wasn't configured the way the US crews expected, so they decided it was an Iraqi plane even though they hadn't been flying for days.

      Not being allowed to shoot at the range the aircraft was designed to engage at because they can't positively ID the bad guy is a common complaint in the pilot memoirs I've read from recent wars.

    32. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      Because there are only 25 AC-130s in active service right now. They can only be in so many places at once, and can only support one unit at a time. A large fleet of A-10s allows for CAS for a much larger battlefield. And as for "aging A-10s", you do realize the AC-130 was introduced almost a decade before the A-10 was, right?

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    33. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      WTF?! When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?
      The days of air-to-air combat are long gone. And where air-to-air combat is still needed, long range missiles take care of it.

      The same was said back when the F-4 was being developed, the first version didn't have a gun for that very reason.

      It was a huge mistake and the reason for the creation of the Top Gun school.

      Just point and shoot, right? Yea, that works sometimes, until it doesn't.

      Bullets (or cannon rounds) don't require guidance that can be jammed.

    34. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      The AC130 is a fun platform but not a replacement for the A10. The Air Force hates the close air support role with a passion but refuses to let the Army take it due to budgetary squabbles.

    35. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      Look up the performance of the AIM-7 and AIM-120 in Iraq in both Gulf Wars and the time in-between.

      It isn't bad, but it isn't nearly as good as the press makes it out to be.

      BVR also doesn't help when the ROE require visual identification of the target anyway.

      A gun with a decent ammo load is still a very useful thing.

    36. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by OldPappy · · Score: 1

      Later versions of the F4 did have a gun. Because of this experience, the F15 air superiority was designed with a gun.

    37. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think we should be very careful that we aren't just fighting yesterday's wars.
       
      I know, just like we should be careful that we aren't just sending the late 60s payload of men to the moon on modern rockets.
       
      Oh, what's that you say? It made perfect sense at the time and now that we're starting to get a reason to go back to the 60s technology we're having a tough go of it because people let the tech, experience and builderspaces of the day go by the wayside?
       
      Warfare happens at a much faster pace and stoking up the forges of old to make weapons for large scale warfare is a bit more complicated than you think. It could just be that our capabilities today are what's keeping Russia from making a grander push into their old back yard. (You did know there is an active war going on in the Ukraine, right? You didn't let Bruce Jener and marriage equality take your eyes off the ball, did you?)
       
      And I'm not going to be an alarmist about it but seems that everytime we let something slide because we don't think it'll happen again we get proven wrong. I'm not using that as justification of the overspending of this project but it is important to keep up some level of standards.

    38. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the plus side, the F-35 has an impressive GAU-12 25mm gun. It boasts a plentiful 180 rounds (F-35A internal gun), or 250 rounds (F-35B external mission pod). Given a rate of fire around 3600/min they ought to last even protracted battles.

      Given the rate of fire it is emptied as fast as the usual LTE flatrate here. About 4secs to empty the big magazine.

    39. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Reibisch · · Score: 1

      Because maybe you need ordinance delivered to an area with contested airspace.

    40. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Shinobi · · Score: 1

      The A-10 is useless if you fight an opponent that has 80's or more modern anti-air weapons, and don't even think about flying it when you don't have air superiority. The SU-25 has served as an excellent example of what happens when you go up against an opponent with decent anti-air capabilities: CAS planes like A-10 and SU-25 are hopelessly outmatched

    41. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's only because we never invade anybody who can meet us in the air. Invade Russia, China, or even Iran, and we'll quickly find out just how important it is to be able to escort bombers with fighters and fight off fighters that want to take our our bombers... or the other way around.

    42. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's interesting and all but it doesn't answer the question. How do the kill numbers break down between dog fighting and BVR since Vietnam?

    43. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by bongey · · Score: 1

      The F-35 will not be able to use its guns until 2019. http://www.thedailybeast.com/a....

    44. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by hey! · · Score: 1

      Sure you can identify scenarios where the A-10 is useless. But in the last twenty years it's been extremely useful in a number scenarios we've actually faced.

      The idea that a system ought to play every role in every conceivable situation is why the F35 performs none of them very well. In hindsight the idea of accommodating the Marines' need for a STOVL aircraft in the same basic design probably dictated too many compromises in the plane's other roles.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    45. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Shinobi · · Score: 2

      But for every situation where the A-10 has done "well", there have been cheaper, more easily maintained options, with better time-on-station. Also, with better night operations capabilities etc. In a situation like Syria, the A-10 would have been outmatched, and the syrian conflict hasn't exactly involved state-of-the-art anti-air assets.

      Most of the love for the A-10 is just wanking over the gun, and that just gets in the way of reasonable decisions.

    46. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Shinobi · · Score: 1

      If an airspace is contested enough to keep the AC-130's out, it's contested enough to keep the A-10's out.

      Any AA from the 80's or later will kill them easily.

    47. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the military impose rules of engagement requiring positive ID of the bad guy before you shoot

      What, you think we have to ID those journalists and harmless regular folks (kids no exception) before blasting 'em off the map? STOP THAT UN-AMERICAN TREASONOUS BULLSHIT.

    48. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, alright, lets take close air support in Afghanistan. What would have been the cheaper, easier-to-maintain solution with better time on station?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    49. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I will note that everyone has had opto-electronics allowing for visual identification from ranges outside of the Human eye, for some time now.
      The F-4E received the TISEO Radar-boresighted telescopic TV unit in Vietnam, to specifically allow for 'visual identification' at 10+ miles, plenty of range for an optimal AIM-7 Sparrow shot. The F-14 and several aircraft since, including the F-35, and those with IRST pods can all generally do this.

      Additionally radar based imaging of opposition targets is down to the point of automatic identification, either by AWACs or some later generation fighter-radars.

    50. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Shinobi · · Score: 1

      The Super Tucano for example. A modernized Bronco would also have been useful.

      You would not have the 30mm penis extender, true, but instead you get a lower stall-speed, better combat radius, each plane is cheaper to build, own and run, less noisy, FAR better avionics, simpler maintenance, requiring fewer service hours, and the pilot has better visibility.

      The lower stall speed is important because that allows you to target and lay down fire more accurately, the improved visibility for the pilot lets you pick out targets more easily and reduce the risk of friendly fire etc.

    51. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      So it has a 50 cal machinegun. They upped to 20 mm because the little stuff was bad at shooting down aircraft. Many modern fighters even go for 30 mm.

    52. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As for long-range missiles, they've been the panacea for decades, but then the military impose rules of engagement requiring positive ID of the bad guy before you shoot, and suddenly you're not at long range any more.

      That sounds like a problem that can be solved with improved communications technology - and, in fact, has been, since Vietnam.

    53. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2008 Georgia/Russia conflict.

    54. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by silas_moeckel · · Score: 1

      Consider by weight that one gunpod with a fraction of a second of ammo weights as much as 8 or so aim-120D's. It's also far cheaper to shoot than 10+ million in air to air missiles.

      Now by mission a gun is more versatile it can fire in ground support what that missile is worthless in that role.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
    55. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good luck getting the Air Force to fly those though, let alone allow the Army to fly them. They hate the A-10 bad enough, and it's at least a jet engine aircraft.

    56. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by inhuman_4 · · Score: 1

      A drone.

    57. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Enemies don't have infinite amount of aircraft.

    58. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      It boasts a 180 rounds (F-35A internal gun), or 250 rounds (F-35B external mission pod). Given a rate of fire around 3600/min they ought to last even protracted battles.

      Is that sarcasm? My math says that's 3-4 seconds of burst. I've never been in a real dogfight, but that doesn't sound like much.

    59. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Most of the love for the A-10 is just wanking over the gun, and that just gets in the way of reasonable decisions.

      The A-10 can go low and slow, take a beating too and still return home, something the F35 won't be able to do.

    60. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by putaro · · Score: 1

      Oh, man, you vick-rolled me!

    61. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'd also get something far, far less survivable. Unless the Bronco suddenly turned into a heavily armoured beast which protects the pilot against everything but the heaviest fire from the ground, can carry a butt-ton of ordinance, fly with half a wing shot away and reliably land even if the gear fails to deploy.

      A fair bit of the drawbacks you mention comes from carrying around that massive gun, which probably is a bit over the top considering that if you need to kill tanks, you're probably not going to use it, and if shoot at something else, you could make do with something less bulky.

      However, a large part of it comes from the airframe being built like a tank. It and can take hits and damage like no other aircraft. And you're living in a dreamworld if you think you can fly CAS without getting hit.

      As for the rest, since when is it impossible to upgrade the avionics..? I'd say your arguments lend them self more for the case of an improved, revised A-10, than some cheap ass third world guerilla-swatter, Unless you consider payload and pilot safety as expendable features.

    62. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3 seconds counts as a protracted battle for you? 21st century, indeed. (Minor sarcasm implied.)

    63. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The trouble is any even halfway intelligent enemy tries to make sure the fight actually plays to his strengths, not yours.

      Also wars have a tendency to be a tiny bit chaotic - the intersection of your plans and his plans ends up with both sides running into each other some place and time other than eithers optimum. Which is why on the ground things like bayonet charges still happen in the 21st century despite all parties having long ranged weapons.

    64. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      The AC-130 is not armored, is slow and can not fly low under fire and survive it. Inform yourself right before writing nonsense.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    65. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      The AC-130 is actively being replaced though. I do agree, they are quite old, but from the Wikipedia page:

      The Air Force launched an initiative in 2011 to acquire 16 new gunships based on new-built MC-130J Combat Shadow II special operations tankers outfitted with a "precision strike package" to give them an attack capability, requesting $1.6 billion from Fiscal Year 2011 through 2015. This would increase the size of the gunship fleet to 33 aircraft, a net increase of eight after the planned retirement of eight aging AC-130Hs

      So they are decommissioning older versions and building new versions. I am not sure if those new ones are from brand new airframes though as they could be older C-130s that are being converted and refurbished.

      I don't believe that any new A-10s have been built in years. From the A-10 wiipedia page:

      The first production A-10 flew in October 1975, and deliveries commenced in March 1976. In total, 715 airplanes were produced, the last delivered in 1984.[16]

      The A-10 however is cheaper, and requires less crew to run, so it is the better platform from that perspective, but the AC-130's side mounted guns make keeping the guns on target and aiming way better.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    66. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Something that could take down an AC-130 is going to tear apart an A-10 just as easily. Inform yourself.

      The A-10 has two engines, mounted close together, so likely something that takes out one will shred the other. It can continue to fly with no hydraulics and half a wing missing. From Wikipedia I cannot tell if we have ever lost one, and it shows 6 AC-130 losses, all in Vietnam.

      The AC-130 is much larger, so is less likely to receive as significant damage from the same types of hits as a A-10. The engines are spread out, and there are four of them, providing increased survivability. The A-10 strafes, the AC-130 circles. The AC-130 is more accurate, as it always keeps its guns pointed on target.

      It is your choice, but as the Airforce has repeatedly said they want to get rid of the old ass A-10 aircraft, maybe they know what they are talking about. The AC-130 has been actively being replaced as airframes get older. The A-10 was last produced in 1986. Would you rather fly an aircraft that is 20 years old or 5?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    67. Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! by vought · · Score: 1

      Airliners carry transponders that squawk. Same diff.

  5. Editorial? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Your tax dollars at work.

    Save the editorial non-sense. This site can hardly be called news anymore.

  6. Big giant scam ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This damned plane has been a big scam from the beginning.

    It was going to be all things to all people, but in reality it was a way to get other countries to pay for the R&D of a huge wishlist of things which was never going to come true.

    As someone who lives in one of the countries who got suckered into the F-35, this program has been nothing but lies and bullshit since it was announced.

    This was the military listing a huge wishlist of things, including a pony, they were going to do.

    Instead, it's underperforming, not up to the claims, over budget, years behind schedule, and still a crappy replacement for the things it was supposed to be doing.

    Everything about the F-35 has been a pile of lies of bullshit since it was announced. And it seems like everybody (except the people selling it and the people who got conned into signing up for it) has know this for that entire time.

    I hope everybody says "piss off" and walks away from the contract.

    This plane is proving what people have been saying for the last decade -- that it was never going to live up to the promises made.

    As a supposed air-superiority platform, this is an utter failure. I bet they don't even have the VTOL version working yet.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Big giant scam ... by zamboni1138 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm not going to argue with most of your points.

      But the VTOL version is working: VTOL land test, VTOL sea test, and VTOL Ramp Test

    2. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2nd one is actually STOL not VTOL

    3. Re:Big giant scam ... by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      As someone who lives in one of the countries who got suckered into the F-35, this program has been nothing but lies and bullshit since it was announced.

      As an American I apologize to you. The F-35 should never have been built, the money should have gone to continued production of the F-22.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    4. Re:Big giant scam ... by bradrum · · Score: 1

      They do have the VTOL working, but at huge costs I have heard. They have had to make airframe modifications that have cost some of the stealthy features. Then there is the really light payload of missiles and super small gun ammo capacity. Even if it could maneuver well for dog fighting it would run out of ammo way before the Russian, Chinese counterparts.

    5. Re:Big giant scam ... by LessThanObvious · · Score: 2

      I'm afraid the selection process was at fault. Although on the surface there was much debate it was actually decided by presenting a series of scale models to unnamed members of the legislature. They took the models and spun around in circles making airplane noises, "neeer, neeer, pop, pop, pop, vrrneeer". The one that felt the most like something a superhero and GI-Joe would fly was clearly the right choice at any price.

    6. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's also had terrible knock on effects for other projects as well. A lot of the problems with the UK's new aircraft carriers have been down to the predicted capabilities of the various F35 variants, mainly whether or not he VTOL version would work properly.

      We won't even be able to put our own planes on the new carriers when they finally arrive as we'll still be waiting for the F35.

      The idea of building three planes with similar avionics, where you could share R&D across all of them has some merit, but the amount of commonality between the three versions has been totally overplayed.

    7. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm going to argue with another one of the points:

      As a supposed air-superiority platform

      It's not meant to be an air-superiority platform. That's what the F-22 is for. The F-35 is supposed to do everything else.

    8. Re:Big giant scam ... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      This damned plane has been a big scam from the beginning.

      But, but it's Bernie Sanders's pet project! And he's a man of the Worker, errr ... People! FREE TUTITION FOR RICH KIDS! Goddamnit, no .... F35's FOR EVERYBODY!

      ah, hell, forget it - it's more rational to vote for Vermin.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    9. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The F-36 only holds 182 rounds, and it fires at 3,600 rounds per minute. That means it will run out of ammo after only 5 seconds. For all intents and purposes, it basically doesn't have a gun.

    10. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course it's a scam. LM's business model is to extend programs which will never work indefinitely in order to siphon as much money as possible from the government. They're able to do this because of a super close relationship with elected officials and a state-granted monopoly on military tech. They actually profit most when their tech doesn't work.

    11. Re:Big giant scam ... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      The scale models also contained large amounts of money...

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    12. Re:Big giant scam ... by gweilo8888 · · Score: 2

      There is one thing conspicuously absent from those videos. At no point do we see a transition from vertical takeoff to traditional flight.

      In fact, only one of those three videos is even VTOL, and it's the one where the plane lifts vertically, hovers, and lands vertically without ever moving horizontally to any significant degree. The other two videos aren't VTOL, one is carrier-based STOVL -- short takeoff and vertical landing -- and since it's carrier based and so landing on a moving target, it isn't actually a completely vertical landing. The plane just has to slow to match the speed of the carrier. And the other is short takeoff, but no landing is shown at all.

      What I'd like to see -- even under ideal conditions -- is a true VTOL flight cycle that transitions from vertical takeoff thru forward flight and back to vertical landing, taking off and landing on a stationary platform. Care to cite an example?

    13. Re:Big giant scam ... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      Sure, but we didn't buy enough F-22s.

      The production line is gone, shut down, history...

      We have fewer than 200 F-22s. Over time, attrition and accidents will wear that number down. If we have to fight someone who can actually fight back, such as Russia or China, those F-22s will simply be too few to do much.

      We'll fall back on our fleet of F-15 and F-16 aircraft, which are still very good, but they will take losses as well.

      Had we gone ahead and bit the bullet and bought 500 F-22s, the F-35 would not be such a problem.

      ---

      Frankly, I'd rather have updated F-16s with conformal fuel tanks and the modern block upgrades than what the F-35 is today.

    14. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But who actually cares about VTOL? We should be investing this money in missiles. Look at our drones, look at how we fight wars, even when we devised the F-35 we knew how things were going. We should be dumping the money into targeting systems, there is NO reason to waste it on flying some soldier into harms way. When we went to war with Iraq, the first strike was tomahawks. We've taken billion dollar nuclear submarines and just stuffed them with missiles to make them glorified barges carrying missiles. That's what we need, we should be dumping the money on drones with dogfighting missiles and smart bombs and ships with stealth tomahawks and reduce the cost of these things.

    15. Re:Big giant scam ... by hey! · · Score: 1

      As a supposed air-superiority platform, this is an utter failure.

      To be fair, that was not the original justification for the thing. That was mission creep.

      I think the original impetus was to have something stealthy that could do ground strikes in enemy territory. And it makes sense to do a naval version of the same thing. If they'd just focused on that they'd have been done a long time ago with a solid design, which of course in engineering nearly always turns out to be more versatile than you planned for. Adding STOVL and the whizbang helmet (cool as that may be) as necessary elements of the system turned this into an "everything for everyone" project, which almost always turns out less versatile than you hoped.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    16. Re:Big giant scam ... by hey! · · Score: 1

      I distinctly remember it being promised that the F-35 would beat anything but an F-22 in air-to-air combat, at a fraction of the price. It was not part of the original concept for the system but it was definitely sold politically as being capable of acting as a poor man's F22.

      I wonder about the helmet mounted display, whether that's something you'd consider absolutely necessary in an aircraft whose job is to hit surface targets in contested airspace.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    17. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ2lO3ieBA - Every time this project comes up I think of this clip.

    18. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They haven't done it yet :P

    19. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A scam indeed.

      Essentially, the plan is to use US tax money, through direct financing and large scale military procurement, to build it "for free". All the while lining the pockets, of course, with the extra cash.

      Step two is where it gets interesting. The US will use all possible arguments and its various government apparatus to sell the lemon plane to as many rich countries as possible. That part will be basically pure profit for those involved, except regarding the money spent on corruption to make the sales.

      Fortunately, our real enemies like ISIS and al-Queada, and poor countries like Syria and Iran, are no match for the F-35 or any old thing we have now. So its efficacy is not an important factor.

    20. Re:Big giant scam ... by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      Sure, but we didn't buy enough F-22s.

      The production line is gone, shut down, history... If we have to fight someone who can actually fight back, such as Russia or China, those F-22s will simply be too few to do much.

      How many would have been the "right" number? One of the principle reasons that production was curtailed was that projected threats from Russian and China did not materialize.

      Surprisingly enough, the production line is not gone, though it is shut down. The decision to shutdown production was coupled with a deliberate decision to preserve the F-22 production capability for possible reactivation. The estimated cost for reactivation of the mothballed line is on the order of 200 million dollars, the cost of one or two aircraft. So if a real need for the F-22 were to appear then it would be possible to put it back into production. This is really the best of both worlds: we avoid sinking tens of billions into likely unneeded excess inventory, while still having the capability to produce more if a demonstrated need arises.

      See: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/wea...

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    21. Re:Big giant scam ... by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      If the F22 is so great, why do we need the F35? Why not just buy 50 F35's and let the F16/F18 aircraft fill in the gaps?

    22. Re:Big giant scam ... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      How many would have been the "right" number?

      500, perhaps 700, would have been a good force number...

      You station 120 in Europe, 120 in Asia, 120 are in for upgrades, heavy overhaul, mx, etc., and the rest are based in the US.

      As it stands, they are a token force, much like the B2 bombers.

      Ask the Germans how effective their ME-262 jet fighters were in 1944. They were 100 mph faster than anything we had, nearly untouchable, but they just couldn't build enough of them.

      Numbers matter...

    23. Re:Big giant scam ... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      Surprisingly enough, the production line is not gone, though it is shut down. The decision to shutdown production was coupled with a deliberate decision to preserve the F-22 production capability for possible reactivation. The estimated cost for reactivation of the mothballed line is on the order of 200 million dollars, the cost of one or two aircraft.

      If you think it really can be restarted for $200 million (this is the US Military Industrial Complex we're talking about), then I've got a bridge to sell.

      If we have 1 to 2 years warning, sure, we might be able to do that...

      What happens if we have 6 weeks warning?

    24. Re:Big giant scam ... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      We probably should have done just that, bought 500 F-22 Raptors and filled in the gaps with the F-16/F-18.

      Once you have control of the air, you can use the older planes, to some extent.

      The F-35 is an amazingly expensive airplane for something that can't actually do anything well.

    25. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I distinctly remember it being promised that the F-35 would beat anything but an F-22 in air-to-air combat, at a fraction of the price.

      It still can. Fighter jets don't dog fight anymore and haven't for over 40 years.

    26. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only one guy seemed interested in the huge burn it put in the deck. I have no idea if that is normal or a problem...

    27. Re:Big giant scam ... by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      missile fights are still called dogfights and same manouvering rules apply.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    28. Re:Big giant scam ... by sjames · · Score: 1

      Something had to keep the pork moving.

    29. Re:Big giant scam ... by UnderCoverPenguin · · Score: 1

      Supposedly, the X-35 prototype for the F-35 did at least one STO, supersonic flight ending with a VL. (Not yet found records for a similar flight of the F-35)

      --
      Don't try to out wierd me, three-eyes. I get stranger things than you, free with my breakfast cereal. --Zaphod Beeblebr
    30. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      As far as I'm aware, the F-35 can do about what the Harrier can do. Apparently the Harrier can't really do vertical takeoff unless it has no weapons loaded, which is why they wanted STOVL for the F-35.

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
    31. Re:Big giant scam ... by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      Surprisingly enough, the production line is not gone, though it is shut down. The decision to shutdown production was coupled with a deliberate decision to preserve the F-22 production capability for possible reactivation. The estimated cost for reactivation of the mothballed line is on the order of 200 million dollars, the cost of one or two aircraft.

      If you think it really can be restarted for $200 million (this is the US Military Industrial Complex we're talking about), then I've got a bridge to sell.

      If we have 1 to 2 years warning, sure, we might be able to do that...

      What happens if we have 6 weeks warning?

      Well the fly-away cost for two F-22s is $300 million, so I was already providing for some cost growth. And, sure, I would not be surprised if it was more - nonetheless that is the quoted estimate.

      Even 1-2 years is not enough lead-time. The lead-time from order to delivery when the line was running was 3 years. Add to that the reactivation time (perhaps that could be collapsed into the normal lead time though as the full line wanted be needed initially). And the production rate was 24 a year. So to double the fleet would take at least a decade.

      It would not be the response to a sudden emergency, but to a longer term assessment of the strategic situation.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    32. Re:Big giant scam ... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      So to double the fleet would take at least a decade.

      It would not be the response to a sudden emergency, but to a longer term assessment of the strategic situation.

      You go to war with the military you have, not the one you want.

      10 years might as well be infinity. Our leaders are not in office that long, decisions are simply not made that far in advance.

      We learned from WW1 and WW2 that you have to build the military first, not after the war has started. We got lucky, but the world is smaller today.

      It is quite possible our standing army has prevented wars over the past 50 years, but you can't prove a negative. I'd hate to find out the hard way however.

    33. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That may be true of the Marine version of the Harrier, but not for the RAF version.

    34. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It may be worth everyone's while if you get the police onto your stalker here.

    35. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apk's rightfully gloating and asking questions. No crime in that.

    36. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The F-35 was never supposed to be VTOL. STOVL, yes, but not VTOL.

    37. Re:Big giant scam ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or, you know, housing and feeding every homeless person in the country for years and years. But yeah, more F-22s are good.

  7. It's not designed to dogfight. Lowest priority. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The gun doesn't even work. Even if it did, the thing was not designed for close-in dogfighting, it was designed for internal payload supercruise or economic stimulus, depending on what we're talking about.

  8. Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this country has enough deadly weapons, and have used them exclusively to kill people in other countries for far too long.

  9. Centered tags? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously slashdot? What is this crap?
    They are slowly fucking up the front page design, one annoying step after another.
    First design, then moved comment count, now tags... FUCK THIS

    1. Re:Centered tags? by RDW · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seriously slashdot? What is this crap?
      They are slowly fucking up the front page design, one annoying step after another.

      Inspired by the stealth design of the F-35 ('Operation Boiled Frog'), the Lockheed-Dice production team are hoping to fly under the radar by sneakily changing the front page one element at a time, so that in 6 months time the site will look exactly like Beta. However, as in the case of the F-35, the final product will be superficially flashy, but less functional than the previous design.

  10. Just as well. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    With performance that bad, it's a good thing we can only afford five or six of them.

  11. Break it up by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

    Use the pieces to make something else. I hope they at least make the next one better looking. Who wants to be seen flying around in that bathtub? If you want safe VTOL, just put a second engine on the Harrier.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Break it up by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      "If you want safe VTOL, just put a second engine on the Harrier."

      Then you would have all the costs and issues of making the power transfer work, with an airframe that would have to be redesigned to accommodate the second engine, and no other benefits. It isnt as easy as you make it sound.

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    2. Re:Break it up by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Single or twin, or as many as you like, the sound a jet makes as it flies rapidly overhead is the same!

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  12. Like All Juggernauts... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...you won't be able to stop this one either, the rails being greased with all of those billions of dollars, regardless of how many issues are found.

  13. Hmm... some developer made it to management by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to save his job and this is his hush-hush-keep it down no, voices carry...

  14. Not to say it's unnecessary by guruevi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But how many US pilots have been in an actual dogfight since, say WWII. Most wars these days are no longer in the air, no large nations are fighting each other and ISIS doesn't have the capacity to fly an F16-like aircraft. Even during the Cold War, the most action was recon missions in enemy airspace which went largely unnoticed.

    Sure, the F35 is a boondoggle but are these jets really necessary? The F16 seems to be holding up fine and the Russians, the only non-allied force with similar capabilities is flying mostly rust that is older than the F16 program.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    1. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Major+Blud · · Score: 4, Informative

      "But how many US pilots have been in an actual dogfight since, say WWII"

      I partially agree, but this is the mentality that cost a lot of American pilots their lives in Vietnam. Even the latest American jets had a hard time dog-fighting against the obsolete MIG-17. The F-4 Phantom originally didn't have a gun, because the pervasive thinking was that air combat would be fought with beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles. This mindset started to change once the missiles (such as the AIM-4 Falcon) were shown to have serious reliability issues......and visual identity of the target was required anyway, to avoid friendly-fire incidents. By the time you get close enough to a plane to make sure it's in fact hostile, a BVR missile loses it's threat potential, and it comes down to the skill of the pilot.

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    2. Re: Not to say it's unnecessary by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 1

      I don't have statistics on hand, but since WWII, I am aware of dog fights have played into air battles of the following wars with us pilots involved:

      Korean War
      Vietnam War (quite famously as we thought the days of day fighting were over.)
      Kosivo et al.
      First Gulf War.

      Guam, Afghanistan, and Gulf War II did not , too my knowledge and I and not sure if there are others I've forgotten.

      --
      Demented But Determined.
    3. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lots, see Korea and Vietnam

      Plenty of dog fights still happen in the jet age, just because the US hasn't gone to war with anyone that could put up a fight since vietnam is no reason to think it won't in the future.

      That said, maybe pilot in seat dog fighters aren't a good idea going forward, like building battle ships in WW2 when carriers were the future. The pilot limits the number of G's a plane can take, maybe the future is omni directional remote operated (VR?) aircraft that can pull 20+G because there is no wetware in the cockpit. Imagine an aircraft that could quickly change thrust directions in or near 360 degrees and wasn't fixed wing

    4. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      To add to that the F-16 was the 'boondongle' of its time. It was designed to be a dog fighter and was turned into everything else. At this point in its lifespan the kinks have been worked out. The f-35 in 30 years will be 'good' plane. But it will take 30 years of use to get there.

      The f-35 program is performing perfectly. It is funneling tax dollars into corporations to make jobs. Even before they finished the prototype it was clear it is not a better plane than anything we have in inventory. I think at best it will replace the f15 role.

    5. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by ohearn · · Score: 1

      There was still a lot of dogfighting in the Korea and Vietnam era. Desert Storm, they US just blatantly overpowered Iraq's air power on a level than wasn't even funny, the same for pretty much all conflicts since.

    6. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Even the latest American jets had a hard time dog-fighting against the obsolete MIG-17.

      This is why I said, up-thread, that we should consider perhaps that the F16 is superior, and that maybe we don't need to build new planes unless we're having trouble winning wars, since we used to have trouble fighting obviously-inferior MIG fighters 30 years out of date with our state-of-the-art hardware.

    7. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by asylumx · · Score: 2

      You might want to consider that the reason modern war doesn't involve air combat as much is specifically because one side of those wars has completely dominated in the air.

    8. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

      Yeah that's why I said "I partially agree" (and the response was directed at guruevi).

      I feel that we already had a great dog-fighter in the F-22, and it was misguided to terminate production of it, because let's face it....the F-35 won't be able to fill that role, and the F-15/16/18 won't be competitive forever.

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    9. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      But how many US pilots have been in an actual dogfight since, say WWII. Most wars these days are no longer in the air, no large nations are fighting each other and ISIS doesn't have the capacity to fly an F16-like aircraft. Even during the Cold War, the most action was recon missions in enemy airspace which went largely unnoticed.

      Well, a Tomcat splashed some Libyan MIGs that decided to come out and play when we crossed the Line of Death.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    10. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by vought · · Score: 2

      "But how many US pilots have been in an actual dogfight since, say WWII"

      John McCain. You might have heard of him. He ran for president a while back.

    11. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the Russians, the only non-allied force with similar capabilities is flying mostly rust that is older than the F16 program.

      I was curious whether this was true, so I had a quick look. Someone's compiled a nice list. Ignoring helicopters and training aircraft, the major constituents of the Russian air force are the Su-25 (close air support), Su-24 (strike/interdiction), and the MiG-29 and Su-27 (fighters). The MiG-29 and Su-27 both first flew in 1977, and the F-16 first flew in 1974, so they're of about the same vintage.

      Russia seems to be gradually replacing its existing fighters with the Su-30 and Su-35, which are, roughly speaking, evolutionary upgrades of the Su-27. Quite different to the US, which is taking a more revolutionary approach in replacing the F-16 with the F-35. The potential improvements are greater - but, as we're seeing, the risks of misdevelopment are higher also.

    12. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which brings into question the entire point of having a dog-fighting plane. As they said waaaaaaay back in the eighties with the Navy's Tomcats: "By the time you see the enemy, you're dead."
      When you run out of missiles you leave. the F-35 has a VERY specific role to play. Here it is:
      It is small and therefore portable for the Navy. They can pack these suckers into a carrier like sardines.
      It has fixed wings and can carry missiles and is therefor useful for the Army.
      It can is cheap enough to be deployed en-mass and keeps many, many pilots' butts in seats and therefore useful for the Air Force.
      No one needs the planes, friends. They need what the plane ensures. Carrier task forces for the Navy. A flight platform for the Army so they can deploy all their freaking tanks with their own air cover, and full employment for pilots for the Air Force. All of these things are out dated. All of these things demand huge numbers of men to keep operating, and all of these things demand GIANT BUDGETS.
      Jeeze, follow the cash and the cash will set you free.

    13. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure the Republican Guard in Iraq had an airforce.

      The thing is the US military doctrine focuses heavily on securing air superiority so the first thing they do is destroy anything that can dogfight. Usually by bombing the crap out of airfields with ship launched cruise missiles followed up by stealth bombing missions.

      As Emperor Molary put it "yes your ships are very impressive in space, but right now they are on the ground."

    14. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even the latest American jets had a hard time dog-fighting against the obsolete MIG-17.

      This is why I said, up-thread, that we should consider perhaps that the F16 is superior, and that maybe we don't need to build new planes unless we're having trouble winning wars, since we used to have trouble fighting obviously-inferior MIG fighters 30 years out of date with our state-of-the-art hardware.

      Unfortunately, if you wait to develop new planes until you are having trouble winning wars and it takes as long as it does to develop that new plane, you will have long lost the war before that new plane can help you out. This is the arms race that has been going on forever. If you wait too long, you can't catch up in time to keep from losing.

    15. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      Great idea except:
          If it is a drone,
              A, the enemy will attempt to jam your communications to it
              B, the enemy might figure out how to co-opt your communications and use it against you.
              C, the enemy will go after the ( concentrated, probably ) command and control center where your drone pilots are.

          If it is AI are we good enough at all the parts? ,
              A. identifying friend and foe?
              B, being able to strategically and tactically manage the aircraft
              C, coordinate with other friendlies?

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    16. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I partially agree, but this is the mentality that cost a lot of American pilots their lives in Vietnam.

      In the American civil war, men stood in lines, shooting muskets at the other guy's musket-shooting line.

      Technology changes, tactics change. Fighting the previous war is usually not the winning strategy. The Red Baron is no more.

    17. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      But how many US pilots have been in an actual dogfight since, say WWII.

      Really? WWII?

      How about... A LOT!

      Korea and Vietnam, they were a regular occurrence... Even in the first Gulf War we were in a bunch of dogfights the first week.

      Sure, if we keep bombing third world countries, we don't need a modern fighter, but if we ever go up against anyone who has an actual air force, we're gonna wish we had one.

    18. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [quote]The F16 seems to be holding up fine and the Russians, the only non-allied force with similar capabilities is flying mostly rust that is older than the F16 program.[/quote]

      Uh, no. They're actually way ahead of us. The F-35 was a response to the Su-27. They're two generations ahead of that now. The Sukhoi series is faster, better armed, better armored, more maneuverable, has a longer range, and basically kicks the crap out of anything we have. We'd better hope we don't get in a real war with the Russians or the couple of countries that can afford to buy their gear.

      https://youtu.be/c2MW8DoJJXg

    19. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because the missiles didn't work. What about today? We have loads of fighters, what do we actually send? Drones, with zero dogfighting capability. We do have targeting systems that feed in the locations of friendlies from external sources. We got ground based missiles and guns that work just fine at shooting down enemy planes, and we got ship based missiles that do just fine at hitting inland ground targets. Why do we even bother trying an air to air fight anyways? Just blow up everything on the ground and destroy runways with tomahawks.

    20. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Kkloe · · Score: 1

      I cant really see shooting missiles against each other is considered dogfighting, as most ppl will think ww1-2 dogfighting when using that word

    21. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      When you find the missiles don't work, don't track, and can't keep up with a next-gen fighter, what do you do? Call it names?

      A cannon has the benefit of always working, only physically moving out of the way helps, but the rounds are fast enough to make that a challenge.

      The gun is also useful against ground targets, you run out of guided missiles and bombs really fast, but a good gun with a lot of ammo can take out a lot of ground vehicles.

      The F-35 doesn't have enough ammo to be useful anyway, they either need 600+ rounds in there or drop the idea of the gun.

    22. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      To add to that the F-16 was the 'boondongle' of its time. It was designed to be a dog fighter and was turned into everything else. At this point in its lifespan the kinks have been worked out. The f-35 in 30 years will be 'good' plane. But it will take 30 years of use to get there.

      The f-35 program is performing perfectly. It is funneling tax dollars into corporations to make jobs. Even before they finished the prototype it was clear it is not a better plane than anything we have in inventory. I think at best it will replace the f15 role.

      But F-!6 was built to be cheap, and was cheap and remains cheap. The F-35 was supposed to be the same, but will never be able to simply based on already spend R&D cost which raises the price to a magnitude greater than the price of the F-16. Since the R&D cost is already spread across the entire live-time producetion of the F-35 the price won't even go down over time.

    23. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Check out what happened during the Vietnam war with the F-4 Phantom before declaring that something is no longer necessary

    24. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by lkcl · · Score: 1

      Sure, the F35 is a boondoggle but are these jets really necessary?

      i take it you've not seen "Independence Day", or "Ender's Game", then? we need these planes just in case there's ever an alien attack from outer space, man.

    25. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was he in an actual dogfight or was he buzzing some trees? We all know McCain was a fuck-up pilot and the only reason he was not thrown out was because of his daddy.

    26. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by skaralic · · Score: 1

      [quote]The F16 seems to be holding up fine and the Russians, the only non-allied force with similar capabilities is flying mostly rust that is older than the F16 program.[/quote]

      Uh, no. They're actually way ahead of us. The F-35 was a response to the Su-27. They're two generations ahead of that now. The Sukhoi series is faster, better armed, better armored, more maneuverable, has a longer range, and basically kicks the crap out of anything we have. We'd better hope we don't get in a real war with the Russians or the couple of countries that can afford to buy their gear.

      https://youtu.be/c2MW8DoJJXg

      The Russians have done fantastic things with the Su-27 family. It is interesting to note that when the first prototypes of the Su-27 flew they badly underperformed. The Su-27 prototypes just could not match the relatively new F-15, which already held several world records. Rather than scrap it or built it as-is, the Russians went back to the drawing board and radically re-designed the plane. The result was nothing short than spectacular as the new Su-27 started capturing all sorts of records for time-to-height was capable of performed a variety of awe-inspiring maneuvers etc.

      On a side note, one of the main weaknesses of the F-22 and US aircraft in general is their relatively short range. This is not a problem when you are operating in "small" countries and launching from carriers situated nearby but for any kind of operation over a large operational theatre (Russia, China, etc.) you depend on in-flight refuelling or the use of drop tanks. The former means that you have to protect those support assets and the latter nullifies your stealth capability. Stealth is sexy and handy when everything works out perfectly but it does impose its own limits and problems.

      I would also be willing to bet that maintenance and repairs on Russian aircraft would be much simpler and cheaper, which matters in a real confrontation.

      Anyone who dismisses the capability of the current crop of Russian aircraft, particularly when in the context of potential conflicts, is being disingenuous at best or has no idea what they are talking about.

    27. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vietnam was a different case - Rules of Engagement frequently forced pilots to get visual confirmation of the markings on enemy planes before being allowed to shoot.

      Yes, we equipped our planes with weapons that could shoot down enemy jets from 50 miles away, then demanded the pilots wait until they were within 1 mile before shooting.

    28. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by youngone · · Score: 1
      The same sorts of arguments were trotted out at the beginning of the jet age too.

      I read the biography of a US pilot who missed out on WWII due to age, and upon beginning training in jets was told that "these are too fast for dog fighting, you'll never see your opponent".

      He then went on to dog fight in F-86's in the Korean War.

    29. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      But how many US pilots have been in an actual dogfight since, say WWII.

      Really? WWII?

      How about... A LOT!.

      How many is a lot? $1 Trillion is a lot of money. So if we're only talking a few dozen, and we still win most of those anyway, even with our 1970's fleet, maybe that money could be better spent elsewhere?

    30. Re: Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suggest you look up Russian fighter development program

    31. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Spacelord · · Score: 1

      > Even the latest American jets had a hard time dog-fighting against the obsolete MIG-17

      That was almost completely because of pilot training. American pilots in the 1960s didn't do dissimilar combat training, they only practiced basic fighter manoeuvres against the same type of aircraft and dog fighting in general wasn't emphasised at all because of an overreliance on missiles.

      As a result, inexperienced F-4 pilots kept getting suckered into low speed turn-and-burn dogfights with MiGs, which is exactly where the MiG's strengths were and where the F-4 did poorly. Instead, they should have used their superior speed and thrust to take the fight into the vertical with zoom and boom tactics, in effect using their F-4 as the energy fighter that it is.

      Because of this experience, the Navy started their Top Gun program and the USAF started using dissimilar combat aircraft to simulate small and nimble adversary aircraft in their training programs, the so called "aggressor" squadrons.

    32. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by lucien86 · · Score: 1

      Tin foil hat.

      --
      Below the speed of light Special Relativity is one of the most accurate theories in physics - above the speed of light..
    33. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      The population of Slashdot hasn't aged that much. They're going to think Top Gun, where they used, you know, missiles.

    34. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The vast majority of planes lost in Vietnam were to SAM defenses. The few that were lost in dogfights were because the ROE demanded that pilots have visual confirmation of targets before shooting, instantly deleting the one big advantage the F-4, F-104, etc had. Stand off missiles.

    35. Re:Not to say it's unnecessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mccain was shot down by SAM defenses, while flying a ground attack plane, not a fighter.

  15. But... by puddingebola · · Score: 1

    will it blend?

    1. Re:But... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      will it blend?

      According the the various reports linked, the F-35 is going to get blended up pretty well in any kind combat. Or did you mean something else?

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    2. Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think he was jokingly referring to this:
      http://www.willitblend.com/

  16. Re:It's not designed to dogfight. Lowest priority. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

    Technically the gun 'works'; but the vendor is too half-assed to actually provide drivers for the gun until some later revision, for which we will presumably pay more.

    Optimists prefer to focus on the fact that, in order to preserve the oh-so-sexy-low-radar-signature design, the system only holds 200 rounds, so nobody expects much of it even when the pilot is able to use it.

  17. and this suprises you why?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you really shocked??
    Just like it's presence here on /.

    to which I am unclear as to how this is nerds material??

    OverLords, pull your heads out,, let see some worth while /. content..
    Actually, I'd really like to see a full week's worth of news posted on here with some Relevancy.

    One day your going to push the "envelope" so hard, no one will come back..

    please im begging you, pull you heads out..

    thanks

  18. F-22 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    F-22 contracts were cancelled so they could fund this POS. the F-35 builders were smart to source parts from manufactures is something like 42 states, so that almost every politician had a local interest in the project.

    What is truely astounding is that stuff like this is common place in our government, but people still think their vote counts toward something.

  19. Good for Boeing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More F/A-18 Super hornet sales...

    Maybe the JSF program should have selected the Boeing X-32. Yes, it was ugly with a funny jaw, leading to the nickname "Monica."

    1. Re:Good for Boeing. by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      That's not the full story on Monica.

    2. Re:Good for Boeing. by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      OK, what is the full story?

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    3. Re:Good for Boeing. by PenguinJeff · · Score: 1

      Watching the test videos it suffered from the same design flaws as the Harrier in its vertical take off. It also had to take off the cowling to even achieve vertical take off. But it was much closer to budget and it was an interesting manufacturing technique. Boeing has a bunch of un-manned craft which is the wave of the future anyways as man has many more limits on G-Forces than the mechanical systems.

  20. Doesn't matter. We'll print more money. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...at the expense of the rest of the world. 'Nuff said.

  21. F35 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the point of the plane is to act as a hub in the drone lan, cruise missile mothership, and electronics attack base.

    Thus, serving as the Judge Dredd car of future occupations, and back linesmen in larger conflicts, it has no business being in dogfights. Those are previous war tactics, and we do not well anticipate what works in the next.

    Perhaps no war?

    The research and development spent on this jet will benefit the next, and as a unified "find shit that doesn't work platform" it seems to deliver.

  22. GOATSE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, if you say anything that makes any sense, some moron will mod you down. So I'm here with you.
     
    captcha: insight

  23. Computer Models Already Showed This... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, if computer models showed this at the design stage, then this is political. Its about forcing the hand of the air force to implement drones rather than manned fighters. Either that, or the money is really going somewhere else and the F-35 development program is a scam.

    Why does this start to sound like a bad sequel of the Star Wars movie franchise...??????????

    1. Re:Computer Models Already Showed This... by vought · · Score: 1

      "Either that, or the money is really going somewhere else and the F-35 development program is a scam."

      CHEMTRAILS!

  24. Obvious dollar usage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And how many Americans could had a free education, better health care, etc etc etc etc etc on all that money spend on war machinery. It really makes me sad how f**ked up the priorities in this modern world are. And no, ISIS is not a thread to American ground. EVER!

    1. Re:Obvious dollar usage by fredrated · · Score: 0

      The droppings from this boondoggle would rescue Greece but no, economies will collapse instead.

    2. Re:Obvious dollar usage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And how many Americans could had a free education, better health care, etc etc etc etc etc on all that money spend on war machinery.

      None, because the eevuhl corminusts would have invaded, like in Red Dawn.

  25. Sunk Cost by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

    The development money is gone. Who you blame the loss on is irrelevant to that. Emotional attachment to lost money is one of the biggest problems plaguing any large organization. The question isn't whether we should add money to a very expensive (but not a trillion dollars, that includes projected maintenance) project.

    The question is, given the platform available right now is it worth it to spend money correcting deficiencies, or would it be more cost-effective to take another option, from re-engineering the F-15 to starting all over again. I don't know the answer to this question but by bringing up past cost as if it were relevant and by adding future costs the writer of this article showed a bias that makes me disregard the whole thing. This isn't a policy piece, it's a hit piece.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    1. Re:Sunk Cost by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      http://www.militaryaerospace.c...

      Frankly, it would likely be much cheaper and just as effective to buy some of those for the US Air Force rather than the F-35.

      The F-35 is too small to do all that it is asked to do. It doesn't carry enough bombs, it doesn't fly fast enough, it isn't stealthy enough, and it isn't a dogfighter.

      Two engines, not one, are needed to really be an effective plane. Yes, the F-16 is a great airplane, once you already have effective control of the skies, but you need the F-15 to get that control.

      The F-22 wasn't built in large enough numbers to provide that.

    2. Re:Sunk Cost by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      The cheapest solution might be to redo the F18 to have stealth.

  26. The project has been a success by Snotnose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It was designed to send money to certain locales and pockets. It's done a great job of it.

    Not much of a plane tho.

    1. Re:The project has been a success by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Hey, they are building it just like every Agile software development project I've seen done.

      You wanted a plane, okay, here you go!
      Oh, you wanted it to fly. We'll get back to you in a couple of years. ...
      Here's your flying plane. What? It needs stealth?
      Be right back. We'll need more money. ...
      Right. We've got your stealth flying plane.
      STOVL? I'm sure you didn't mention that before. That's gonna cost a LOT extra. ... (5 years later)
      Voila! Two models. Normal and STOVL. Both fly and with stealth.
      Missiles? Where are we gonna put those? We'll have to get back to you about that. ...
      Okay, we figured out how to put a couple missiles on and keep it stealthy. That's all right?
      Supersonic!?!? ...

  27. Wars don't care by sjbe · · Score: 1

    The gun doesn't even work. Even if it did, the thing was not designed for close-in dogfighting, it was designed for internal payload supercruise or economic stimulus, depending on what we're talking about.

    The jets in use around Vietnam weren't designed to dogfight either. Everyone thought they would shoot the enemy down with a missle from miles away. But wars have a funny way of not caring what your weapons were designed for. Dogfights happen.

    1. Re:Wars don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oldie but goodie: "There is a reason they call them MISSiles and not HITiles".

  28. You read that, phantomfive? by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1
    --
    "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  29. Yes dogfights still happen by sjbe · · Score: 4, Informative

    When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?

    1999 in the Balkans though there may be ones I'm not aware of that are more recent.

    The days of air-to-air combat are long gone.

    There is no evidence to support this assertion.

    And where air-to-air combat is still needed, long range missiles take care of it.

    They thought the same thing in Vietnam and they were wrong.

    1. Re:Yes dogfights still happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When was the last time you've ever heard of a dogfight?

      1999 in the Balkans though there may be ones I'm not aware of that are more recent.

      Fail. There is nothing in the Wikipedia article that suggest it was a gun dogfight rather than a missile dogfight. The last commonly referenced gun kill of an aircraft was an A-10 vs an Iraqi helicopter during the Gulf War but I'd hardly call that a dogfight.

      And where air-to-air combat is still needed, long range missiles take care of it.

      They thought the same thing in Vietnam and they were wrong.

      The F-4 Phantom and Vietnam predates the Intel 4004, the first commercial single IC CPU, to give you an idea of how old that instance was. Technology has come a long way since then, armchair generals. What are you going to argue for next, going back to the all-gun battleship? LOL

    2. Re:Yes dogfights still happen by rahvin112 · · Score: 2

      The "dog fighting" in the wiki article is including planes shot down with missiles. I personally recall some of those downed aircraft and they were downed with missiles not guns. Dog fighting in reference to the this article and the "report" is in reference to fighting with cannons, not missiles. Missiles have made dog fighting a thing of the past. Modern aircraft (except for the A-10) don't even carry enough bullets to pull the trigger more than once or twice, and that includes almost every fighter plane in the world still in service.

      Dog fighting is a top gun myth, it doesn't exist and hasn't for a long long time.

    3. Re:Yes dogfights still happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have no clue about the range of these missiles, nor how little time that represents to a jet. Missiles were introduced into air to air combat because the speeds where so high that you didn't have enough time to react, aim and shoot anymore. It changed the combat distance, but not really the needed kind of maneuvering, apart from the ideal and in a real scenario rarely seen case where you know exactly is on your screen, and there's no need for visual identification.

      Also don't forget that missiles have a more or less constrained envelope from within which they have to be fired, or they will miss. It's only in an armchair hero's world it's as easy as you see something on the scope, you shoot a missile and you win.

    4. Re:Yes dogfights still happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As I recall, it works like this:

      You send up a plane with four missiles.

      They send up six cheap planes.

      Your plane gets shot down. 8-(

      Until you have missile cannisters with twenty missiles, you better have a gun. And, enough ammo. (Or at least be a lot faster.)

  30. No rear camera? by hawguy · · Score: 1

    "The helmet was too large for the space inside the canopy to adequately see behind the aircraft."

    Maybe the military should have paid for the $750 "rear camera package" that's already in wide use in minivans. For what the aircraft cost, it should have 360 degree spherical camera coverage with automatic threat identification so even if the pilot's not looking behind him, he'll get an alert when the camera detects an aircraft approaching from an angle where he can't see it.

    1. Re:No rear camera? by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      wait, I thought that was one of the bells and whistles they were flogging with this.
      So why does the pilot need to turn his head to see behind the plane? He shouldn't even need to set down his beer.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    2. Re:No rear camera? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does have 360 degree camera coverage.
      The pilot wears a VR helmet and can "see through the aircraft" by turning his head.
      What this guy is saying is that the helmet is so bulky he couldn't turn his head to see behind him.

    3. Re:No rear camera? by Kevin+by+the+Beach · · Score: 1

      The automatic threat detection is cool stuff... If Google is doing it on the road, you know it exists in the skies.

      The automatic backup camera has been problematic with the F-35... it only switches on when the plane is in reverse :-)

    4. Re:No rear camera? by hawguy · · Score: 1

      It does have 360 degree camera coverage.
      The pilot wears a VR helmet and can "see through the aircraft" by turning his head.
      What this guy is saying is that the helmet is so bulky he couldn't turn his head to see behind him.

      Sounds like a pretty poor UI choice -- why force the pilot to physically turn his head all the way around him to see a virtual representation of what's behind the aircraft? It may be intuitive, but pressing a button to flash the rear-view on his visor sounds much more efficient, especially if the computer has already highlighted potential threats.

    5. Re:No rear camera? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Maybe it would take too long to reacquire everything that were tracking when you jump from view to view versus when you physically turn your head. I don't know if this is the case or not. You still have to re-orientate yourself either way but maybe we're wired to do more efficiently one way. It's possible that the brain can be doing the tracking while we're turning our head so the effect isn't as bad. I'm just guessing. But considering the amount of money they put into the project I would hope that they thought of doing something like putting a view of the back on the visor.

    6. Re:No rear camera? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about the hotdog? Does he need to set that down?

  31. The mistake was having one plane do everything by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    ... the idea was to have one plane do everything and of course the result was that it does everything poorly.

    What you want is not one plane but maybe a dozen different types that all do different things.

    The A10s are the tank buskers. Using the F35 for close ground support is dumb. The need to take off from a crap airfield which is something the marines like?... Boeing has some very cheap VTOL planes that should have taken that role up.

    The british that refuse to put a catapult on their ships should just stick with the harrier until they get over that and put a catapult on their decks. Maybe the new magnetic ones will be more acceptable to them.

    The idea I suppose was that if they had one plane they'd save money on maintenance. But that clearly hasn't happened. I'd cut losses and shift to more planes doing different roles.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      The catapult is not the problem.
      The landing is.

      British carriers are rather small, there is no space to have rope assisted landing like on a big carrier.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    2. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This movie comes to mind:

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144550/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_80

    3. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      The size doesn't make them expensive. Take a cargo ship and give it a flat top. That is what we did in WW2. It works fine. YES YES... you couldn't make the literal same fucking ship because the planes are different. But in concept you could generally the same thing.

      What makes warships expensive is pretty much everything but size and the size of the deck. So just start with the requirement that you have a reasonable deck size and then you won't have these problems.

      --
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    4. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      What you want is not one plane but maybe a dozen different types that all do different things.

      Well, it's a trade off. More types means more complicated logistics and that's bad. You want as few types as you can get away with while still having enough types that they do the job well.

      The most important roles for separate fighter designs:

      Air Superiority (shooting down other planes)
      Air Interdiction (precision strikes against ground targets, often in the face of air defenses)
      Close Air Support (direct support of ground troops)

      There are a number of specialty roles like aerial recon, suppression of air defenses, forward air control and such.

      The air superiority role really needs something purpose built like the F-22 as it has a unique set of requirements and compromising them really reduces it's effectiveness.
      The air interdiction role can usually handle being a multi-role aircraft as long as you don't go crazy with it like they did with the F-35. The main purpose is as a fighter/bomber but they can be modded to air defense suppression, recon and a variety of other specialty tasks.
      The close air support role needs to be purpose built due to the need for heavy firepower, high armor and usually VTOL capability.

    5. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      It isn't a trade off. The added logistics costs are already far below what this stupid project has already cost.

      And indifferent to that, the F35 is objectively inferior to 12 different specialized planes. So you're not saving money and your doing a less effective job.

      aka total and complete failure.

      Grade F. Come see me after class.

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    6. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      And indifferent to that, the F35 is objectively inferior to 12 different specialized planes.

      Of course it is, any plane not special built for it's role is going to be less effective for that role. The question is how much specialization do you need vs. the increased logistics complexity. The F-35 tries to wear too many hats, that's for certain, but I would argue we really only needed one more airframe. The F-22 for air superiority, what the F-35 should have been for air interdiction and multi-role use, and a heavy close air support VTOL. The worst design compromises would have been avoided and it we'd have a much better product without too much extra logistics complexity.

    7. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      First, the logistical complexity thing is bullshit. I'm not listening to that anymore. We had lots and lots of different things going at once during WW2 and it was fine.

      All this logistical crap boils down to is MONEY.

      And the money issue would be relevant if not for the fact that 12 different craft are actually cheaper than one generalized craft.

      The reason being that it is more effective, more efficient, more survivable, and does not need to be changed unless something happens to the baffle field in relation to it specifically.

      So for example, if you have an all in one craft... not only does it have all the other problems I pointed out, but if ANY ONE of the things it is supposed to do becomes obsolete, the entire craft has to be changed. Where as with 12... only the one that is actually effected has to change.

      Take all the hardware we still use that we developed during Vietnam. Why do we still use that stuff nearly unchanged from that point? Because nothing has really changed for them.

      So for example the A10 still works just fine. The AC130 Specter works just fine. The B52 works just fine.

      The only relevant thing that has changed is that AA missiles have gotten better.

      That's it.

      The latest Russian or Chinese or any nation's tank is fucking meat against an A10. None of them can defend themselves. The reactive armor, the faster speed... none of it matters. The A10 chews threw modern tanks pretty much the same way it did through tanks of its era.

      So you need tech that deal with the AA... you need stealth and drones etc. But you don't need all of that in one package. That's crazy.

      You have some stealth capable deep strike craft that can penetrate enemy territory and knock out their air defense. There are some very good cruise missiles that are excellent for that as well. And once they've done their work those tanks are naked. The tank crews might as well just get out of the tank and go find a trench. The tank is garbage once air cover is gone.

      And this is the thing with the F35. Do the marines need a VTOL stealthy jet that has very little weapon's capacity, very short range, can't dog fight, is poor at supporting ground troops... etc etc etc. No they don't.

      Its garbage.

      As I said, give the marines the VTOL jet from Boeing. Its every bit as good as the F35 minus the stealth... and the stealth is not something the marines need... and its way cheaper which means the marines can have more of them.

      Frankly the marines would probably be better served with attack helicopters. That seems more their speed. I know the Navy Seals like their attack helicopters.

      As to the Navy... they have no need for the F35 PERIOD. They have super carriers so they can launch less annoying airplanes.

      The F15, F16, and 18 are all quite capable. What they lack is the stealth... and frankly the value of that is increasingly dubious.

      The army has a completely different mentality than the Marines or the Navy or the air force. First, the marines all about logistics. That is their bread and butter. And beyond that they always have big airfields because they need them for the cargo planes and the bigger bombers which is what they prefer. So the army doesn't need the F35 either.

      As to the Air force... the plane they want is the F22. Ideally they wouldn't touch the F35 and if you push them on the issue, they'd prefer the drones over the F35.

      Its an impressive airplane but war is about achieving military goals and the F35 is not a good tool for that.

      Its too many things and it does them all badly.

      The biggest problem is the VTOL and the stealth. Both of those features are really hard to put into an airframe.

      The VTOL makes the plane very heavy and means you can't put much into it and it means the plane can't have proper wings because it has to narrower if it is VTOL. The stealth basically compounds that situation because stealth also means you don't want big wings and on top of that you can't carry very much because ever

      --
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    8. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      First, the logistical complexity thing is bullshit. I'm not listening to that anymore.

      Well the navy doesn't agree:

      "Bitter experience in war has taught the maxim that the art of war is the art of the logistically feasible." - ADM Hyman Rickover, USN

      The Army doesn't agree:

      "Forget logistics, you lose." - Lt. Gen. Fredrick Franks, USA, 7th Corps Commander, Desert Storm

      The Marines don't agree:

      "Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics." - Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps)

      The Air Force doesn't agree:

      “Be nice to your mother but love your logisticians...” -- Gen Charles A. Horner, USAF

      Famous military experts don't agree:

      "There is nothing more common than to find considerations of supply affecting the strategic lines of a campaign and a war." - Carl von Clausevitz

      "The line between disorder and order lies in logistics" - Sun Tzu

      "My logisticians are a humorless lot ... they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay." - Alexander

      “You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” – General Dwight D. Eisenhower

    9. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      Saying logistics is important is not something I'm contradicting.

      I already pointed out to you that we had far more machines and more logistical complexity during WW2 and we were fine.

      Seriously, what do you even think the logistical issue is here?

      Repair parts? That's about it... no?

      On the basis of repair parts you can't justify a plane that is much more expensive and much less capable.

      The Navy, Army, etc would much rather have more planes that work better and have to deal with a couple extra crates of spare parts at a large airfield. Note I say large airfield. because the smaller ones aren't going to have this diversity. The airfields tend to specialize in these situations as the different departments grab their own territory and then put their hardware in place.

      And on top of that, the Navy is talking about putting high end 3d printers on their ships so they can MAKE parts.

      Regardless, that is the last time I'm talking about logistics. The logistical problem with having 12 planes is not a big problem. Having planes that are too expensive and don't work well is a bigger problem and it can't be solved without splitting the plane up to more specialized planes.

      I assume you're not going to be mentally able to move beyond this issue... I know that sounds offensive but it isn't intentional... you're just not seeing how myopic and stubborn you're sounding on the issue. So... unless you move on beyond logistics... kindly don't waste any more of my time.

      --
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    10. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      You need 1-air superiority, 2-air interdiction/patrol, 3-close air support, 4-vtol. You can't mix 3 and 4 because close air support requires armour, and that's too heavy for vtol.

    11. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      That might work if you build a new carrier.
      But it does not work if you buy a new plane for an existing carrier.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    12. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know the British invented the steam catapult on an Aircraft carrier don't you?

    13. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      The existing harriers are contextually superior for the british. They can actually afford harriers for one thing. And really the only advantage of the F35 is the stealth which... probably doesn't matter.

      --
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    14. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      And Americans invented the first carrier caterpult. I believe the wright brothers actually did that. It wasn't approved because the Navy didn't like the way it worked. It used a large weight that was dropped. The weight went through some pullies to convert some of the torque to speed.

      The big flaw of the Wright model if there even was one was that the weight came down onto a big metal plate on the carrier deck. Frankly I think the plate should have been able to negate the damage of that. But the Navy didn't like it.

      The compromise should have been dropping the weights over the sides of the ship like anchors. The weights wouldn't even need to touch the water. I think it only needed to drop 12 feet or something.

      Anyway, what the british did or did not invent is of little value if they opt to not use it.

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    15. Re:The mistake was having one plane do everything by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      Hmm, I suppose it depends on how heavy you want the armor. Certainly you can't go as heavy as the A10. I'd have to defer to an expert on that one.

  32. On the contrary, gentlemen by Jawnn · · Score: 1

    We've managed to spend a trillion taxpayers dollars on an incredibly expensive airplane, which is being built by our friends. Our friends got their money. Right? I call that an unqualified success. Who gives a shit if it actually works?

    Regards,
    Your Elected Officials

  33. Talk about fighting the wars of the past!!!! by Jahoda · · Score: 1

    What fucking planet do these military industrial parasites and hawks live on where they believe that the next War of Any Size will involve dogfighting? Fucking unbelievable the complete and total disconnect from reality.

    1. Re:Talk about fighting the wars of the past!!!! by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      Earth?
      The next time we fight someone who isn't a total pushover, yeah there will be some dogfighting. As long as we keep kicking over the anthills of third world dictators, no, not so much.

    2. Re:Talk about fighting the wars of the past!!!! by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      What fucking planet do these military industrial parasites and hawks live on where they believe that the next War of Any Size will involve dogfighting? Fucking unbelievable the complete and total disconnect from reality.

      Go look in the mirror... you might be shocked at who is disconnected from reality...

      If we end up, for whatever reason, going to war with Russia or China, there will be a LOT of dogfighting involved to control the skies.

      The Russians have some very nice planes that can do that, and can stand up to our F-15 and F-16.

      Our F-22 is likely better than anything they have, but we simply don't have enough of them.

    3. Re:Talk about fighting the wars of the past!!!! by Jahoda · · Score: 1

      Ridiculous. Dude, just stick to your manginot line. The next war major war is robots, lasers, and smarter missiles than we have today. The fact that you believe that some future war with Russia and China looks like a WWII dogfight is fucking childish.

    4. Re:Talk about fighting the wars of the past!!!! by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      If by chance we have a real war with Russia and/or China, then dog fighting superiority will be the least of our worries.
      Also, given the geographic size of the territory involved, even an untouchable plane is not going to be much good in a production run of only 100. Much better to have thousands of cheaper aircraft, that are still capable of a decent job. Are there any tests to see how one F35 competes with ten F16's at once? Because that is the numbers we are talking.

    5. Re:Talk about fighting the wars of the past!!!! by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      Not sure what the point was, or why you replied to me...

      I said the F-22 was the best in the air, but we simply don't have enough of them. I'd rather have 1,000 F-15/F-16 fighters than 100 F-22 fighters.

      170 or so that we have, just isn't enough for a major war.

  34. but can it buzz the tower? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but can it buzz the tower?

    1. Re:but can it buzz the tower? by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      "Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full."

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  35. So....no Danger Zone then? by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

    Needs more cool soundtrack.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:So....no Danger Zone then? by PPH · · Score: 1

      Perhaps this is why they are bringing Maverick out of retirement.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  36. Lockheed needs welfare too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you dont expect them to actually earn their keep do you?

  37. What's even sadder.... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    The super old MIG-29 can also kick it's arse.

    Honestly Why the hell has this aircraft entered into use? It's a piece of crap from day one.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  38. Lightning II is Multirole by Guy+From+V · · Score: 1

    It can dogfight. It may be expensive as hell and already getting old as tech goes before its even rolled out officially, it may not be able to go toe-to-toe with Su-35 Flanker-Es or F-22 Raptors, PAK-FA or the supposed Chengdu J-20, it may not "technically" have Supercruise ability. But all this is academic...it is designed as a multirole, modular attack fighter: it can put up a fight that is risky for even the best fighter jets to commit to if forced to...and that is all that needs to be accomplished. In it's designed role it will act as an attacker flanked by air superiority badasses which as of right now is technically still the F-22 Raptor (that may not be true theoretically now, but still...). In its role as a piece in the air dominance puzzle it fits, it may not be pretty and getting old on the vine and almost ready to ship to the modern jet boneyard, but saying "it can't dogfight" is a stawman: it can, but isn't designed to be an air superiority jet. Its like saying "The Raptor can't attack infantry columns or submerged subs". Yeah...but it can make sure that other attack platforms in the air that can do that are 100% free to do so in air conditioned comfort.

  39. This is why we can't have nice things by pinkstuff · · Score: 5, Insightful
    • $30 Billion per year to would end world hunger
    • $17 Billion per year currently spent by the US on the Nasa space program
    • $4.8 Billion per year currently spent by the US on cancer research
    • And the US spends $1000 Billion+ on a plane, designed to kill. Imagine, if you can, a world without war, it's easy if you try.

    1. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by PPH · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Imagine, if you can, a world without war, it's easy if you try.

      Yes. Then I could conquer the whole stupid planet with just a butter knife.
      --Dogbert.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      • And the US spends $1000 Billion+ on a plane, designed to kill.

      if you'd been paying attention you'd know that the F-35 isn't going to be killing anyone

    3. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a facility in the concept that if you don't wage war you won't be a victim of warfare. John Lennon's lyrics may resound with you but for most others it simply doesn't.

    4. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      Imagine, if you can, a world without war, it's easy if you try.

      I can also imagine purple unicorns that vomit rainbows. The fact that I have a good imagination doesn't change reality.

    5. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nonsense. No way to get past the dictators and warlords to end hunger. Ending hunger is a political problem, not an economic one.

    6. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by pinkstuff · · Score: 1

      It is certainly the case that we, as a species, are hell bent on killing each other over misunderstandings, jealousy, or power. I am saying, just imagne, for one minute, that money was spent on say, science and technology. How advanced our species would be by now. Defense spending has grown well out of proportion.

    7. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by desdinova+216 · · Score: 1

      what about the pilots

    8. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by GuB-42 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Can you please stop with this $xxx can end world hunger nonsense ?
      First of all, people don't eat money. So if there are 10 people and food for 9, you can give as much money as you want and it won't change the fact that one of them won't eat.
      Ok, so let's be a little smarter and use this money to better manage our agriculture. Now we have enough rations for everyone. World hunger ended... or is it ?
      Not yet, because we also have to prevent local chieftains from diverting this food supply and use it to assert their power. Basically, it means some kind of a police force is needed to make sure food really goes to who is hungry. Now we have food going to people in need. Word hunger ends... for now.
      Because, you see, in third world countries, birth rate is sky high, balanced by high mortality. Lower the mortality rate and you get exponential growth, which mean more demand for food, making the "food for everyone" program harder to maintain. So we need to either hope for a rapid transition or use drastic measures like China did with the one child policy.

      As for war, it may be the most effective way to limit world hunger : war kills and dead people don't need to eat. A nightmarish reasoning that is hopefully flawed but I think not more so than your pipe dream.

    9. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Eloking · · Score: 2

      Yeah...fascinating world really. But it's not how things works.

      You don't have to look far in history to see that. before the US became the clear world leader, it was a time of war and conflict almost everywhere in the world. In fact, just in the last decade, with less than 5% of the world population in conflict, we are living during the most peaceful time in history (counter-intuitive, I know).

      Maybe, one time, the humanity will change enough so all armies will be dismantled. But, for now, we need hat the US stay the clear leader for a little more longer.

      --
      Elok
    10. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      Buy updated F16/F18, buy some more F22, spend the rest on bribing those third world parasites to handle our problems for us so we don't get shot at. You'd not worry about keeping America safe if you had a 10 million man army to clear the ground.

    11. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somebody tried that already. I introduced them to my sledgehammer.

    12. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      You seem to be confusing war with weapons. You can still have powerful weapons, ie the USAF still has 1200 F-16s amongst it's huge arsenal. So the question really is, could you have spent the $1T on something more constructive AND still maintained the worlds most powerful military arsenal?

    13. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Can you please stop with this $xxx can end world hunger nonsense ? First of all, people don't eat money. So if there are 10 people and food for 9,

      For the record the actual number is closer to 10 people and food for 15. Yet 20,000 people still starve to death each day.

      As for war, it may be the most effective way to limit world hunger : war kills and dead people don't need to eat. A nightmarish reasoning that is hopefully flawed but I think not more so than your pipe dream.

      Well this rates up there as one of the most stupid comments I've seen in this forum. Starvation is mostly caused by poverty, and poverty is mostly caused by health and education issues. These problems can be fixed, as they have been mostly fixed in western countries.
      If we spent as much ($1Trillion!) on building Schools and Hospitals in Iraq as blowing it up, I wonder how different it would be today.

    14. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So if there are 10 people and food for 9

      Except in fact there are 10 people and food for 11.

      Lower the mortality rate and you get exponential growth

      No you don't, you get a corresponding reduction in birth rates.

    15. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Imagine, if you can, a world without war, it's easy if you try.

      I can also imagine purple unicorns that vomit rainbows. The fact that I have a good imagination doesn't change reality.

      The thing is, even given that there are conflicts in the world (a) wars are not the only way to deal with them and (b) whatever other countries do, your own can always refuse to initiate armed conflict.

      The world would be a lot better with a reduced number of unnecessary armed conflicts, even if you can't avoid them entirely.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    16. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      whatever other countries do, your own can always refuse to initiate armed conflict.

      Sure, but sometimes that is worse. If the Allies had intervened earlier then the Nazis would have never gotten rolling in the first place and the death toll for WWII would have been several orders of magnitude smaller.

      The world would be a lot better with a reduced number of unnecessary armed conflicts, even if you can't avoid them entirely.

      In some cases yes, in other cases we should be fighting and aren't. The reason being that some armed conflicts are necessary. I'm not pro-war, I'm just saying that we can't hide our heads in the sand and hope the bad people go away.

    17. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      I believe that the $1 Trillion number is the projected costs through 2030 or the like, not what the US has actually spent so far. It will certainly end up being more than $1 Trillion, but not all of that has been spent yet.

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
    18. Re:This is why we can't have nice things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need to wonder. You can look at Iran today, who was quite open and a friend of US in the 70s.

  40. I'm so happy! by ihtoit · · Score: 1

    ...that the UK Government has reduced the order for the Naval version of the F35 to just 14 planes from its initial order of 138. To be shared (eventually) between TWO supercarriers! That aren't even BUILT yet!

    Wait. Why has the order cost not changed??

    Initial order for 138 airframes: $50m each. Just airframes. No support contracts, apparently sometime between 2006 and 2015 we mislaid our mechanical skillset in the Royal Navy and RAF. Maybe they went to Turkey for more secure positions (I hear scrap metal salvage is enjoying a massive boost over there - thank the Royal Navy for that one, who at the behest of the British Government sent our entire combat-ready sea force to be scrapped). Following many revisions and the butchering to nonexistence of our defence capability (we couldn't even launch a tactical nuke at the moment!), we eventually get to...
    2015 Procurement (14 airframes (NO ENGINES!) and ongoing support contracts for all aircraft): $131m each + costs for spare parts fabrication -- $15m per engine, sold seperately!

    Just in the FIRST YEAR, assuming that each aircraft has ONE hot and one spare engine, the new procurement would cost the SAME as the initial tentative order.

    In the 2014 Congressional hearings concerning the F35 cost overruns, it was pointed out that while there was not one single combat-ready airframe in service, the project had ALREADY cost more than the ENTIRE GDP of Australia!

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  41. F22 has the same issue. by Tim12s · · Score: 1

    Doesn't the F22 have the same issue? Either way a lot of money has been spent but are these even designed to be dog fighters?

    http://www.google.com/m/search...

    1. Re:F22 has the same issue. by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      The F22 was briefed as a JSF, it found its niche as a low-return ASF since it *can* supercruise. It can do BVR very well, dogfighting? Hells to the no.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  42. The F-35 can't dogfight by ArcadeMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's okay, AFAIK we're not at war against dogs.

    1. Re:The F-35 can't dogfight by Krishnoid · · Score: 1
  43. im sure bureaucracy ran its course. by nimbius · · Score: 1

    congress critter:ill fund the f35 but only if its in my state, and only if it uses whatever is in my macbook.
    senate critter: make it fly faster than any jet we have, but also make it use this pork technology i funded in 2006 in my state.
    congressional overlord: we need to fund a new jet fighter, we all agree on this, but i think we're overlooking a critical point. this figher needs lasers so it can beat chinese surface to air clam demons i heard about on fox news. use the lasers were building in senator porkpies state
    senator porkpie: i stopped funding those things because special interests in my state swore they were blasphemous to jesus and part of the gay agenda
    Congressman moneysworth: make the jet use stem cells but also make sure it can deliver food aid in case we need to send security forces to stabilize a region and win hearts and minds.
    Senator drifty barnacle: ive served since the cleveland administration and i dont this new hamburger you all want to put in the kitchen...make sure the f35 still has katsup...
    engineer: [screaming intensifies]

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  44. Preparing for the unlikely by sjbe · · Score: 1

    But how many US pilots have been in an actual dogfight since, say WWII.

    Enough that the US Navy developed a school to teach air combat maneuvering (also known as dogfighting). You may have seen a movie about it.

    Most wars these days are no longer in the air

    That matters not one bit when you run into a war that does involve air to air combat. That's like saying most wars these days are no longer nuclear. Doesn't mean it will stay that way.

    no large nations are fighting each other

    There is no reason to assume it will remain that way. There are several large nations that it wouldn't be surprising at all to see go to war. India/Pakistan, India/China, China/Taiwan, China/Japan, US/Iran, Israel/Any-Neighbor, North Korean/South Korea, Russia/NATO and others are all potential hot spots.

    1. Re:Preparing for the unlikely by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      US/China. Those islands in the South China sea won't defend themselves.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    2. Re:Preparing for the unlikely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of the wars you mentioned there are between nuclear powers. If any of those wars happen the planet is done. Air power is irrelevant to ICBMs and if those don't fly on day one they'll fly once someone realizes they've lost.

    3. Re:Preparing for the unlikely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aren't you forgetting war against aliens? Independence Day, remember?

  45. Treason? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think a trillion dollars wasted warrants an execution for treason for whomever made the most money off of it.

  46. Is Dogfighting really that important? by Eloking · · Score: 2

    If a war were to break up, is Dogfighting really "the" efficient way to take care of fighter? With all new modern weaponry (AAM, SAM, laser etc.) I'm not completely sure if this feature is still relevant in modern time.

    I mean, the british may had the most advanced battleship of its time during WW2, they still got utterly destroyed by aircraft carrier.

    --
    Elok
    1. Re:Is Dogfighting really that important? by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      If a war were to break up, is Dogfighting really "the" efficient way to take care of fighter? With all new modern weaponry (AAM, SAM, laser etc.) I'm not completely sure if this feature is still relevant in modern time.

      So far there haven't been any game changing technologies that eliminate the need for aircraft. Eventually high powered lasers, new sensors and sophisticated tracking systems might make planes obsolete, in the meantime they're still pretty critical. If you have planes flying around trying to kill each other it's inevitable that they're going to end up close at some point, in which case you're going to want A) a gun and B) a way not to get hit by the other guy's gun.

  47. Questionable reporting. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This David Axe article does not provide the original document. David Axe has a history of cherry picking and reporting out of context to support his stance. Without seeing the original report he is citing it is impossible to really understand what is going on. It is well known that the F-35 is inferior in terms of maneuverability at some altitudes and speeds vs. the F-16 while superior at others. We can make an analogy to CPUs. Assume that CPU B is going to replace A in a vendor's offering. Lets say B outperforms A in 9 out of 10 benchmarks (those are the benchmarks that are most representative of the customer's workload). The IT equivalent of David Axe would report that A is better than B because leaked reports show that A outperforms B (of course leaving out the results of the other benchmarks.)

    One more remark, the flight control laws for the F-35 have not been finalized. The purpose of the test cited in the article was actually to figure out where the flight control laws need to be adjusted. Typically, these tests start with the most conservative version of the laws, then start relaxing them to achieve the balance of performance and stability the customer wants.

    It is important to see the original report, so we know what was actually being tested, and under what conditions.

  48. Ever clearer purpose by Dracos · · Score: 1

    It's becoming more obvious that the purpose of the JSF program isn't to produce a next-gen fighter jet, but rather to waste money under the pretext of producing a next-gen fighter jet. If they skinned it with bacon weave and built the airframe from ribs, the plane would still be less porcine than the program itself.

    The pilot can't turn their head? Dozens of people involved in the program should have identified that fundamental problem long before any component was physically built.

    1. Re:Ever clearer purpose by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      Truly sad that the American public let this happen with a trillion dollars of their hard earned money, and don't complain to their representatives and demand that the money be better spent. People talking about fixing this flying turd need to think a bit more about how few dogfights the US engages in these days. This should never have gotten to this point, but as long as Americans don't complain when their money is squandered like this, then it is just going to keep happening. Too bad our roads, bridges and schools are falling apart because there is no money for infrastructure. A trillion dollars sure would have been a big help toward giving us Medicare for all. But instead we got a flying turd that no one wants or needs.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
  49. Groan by bobmajdakjr · · Score: 1

    The ghost of the F-22 is turning in its boneyard.

  50. Can't perform any of the roles it was designed for by tekrat · · Score: 1

    It was supposed to be the one plane that would do *everything* (or that's how it was sold).

    It's supposed to replace the A-10, although it does close troop support poorly, and it's supposed to replace the F-16, although it cannot dogfight, and it's supposed to replace the Harrier, although it's VTOL/STOL capabilities are questionable at best.

    The sad part is that America will be less safe with this aircraft, as it can't do anything well, except suck dollars through the turbine. A trillion dollar waste, but hey, keep cutting medicare and social programs, GOP!

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
  51. No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by whodunit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The big red flag that nobody caught (since nobody actually reads the articles) is that the story is completely unsourced. Where did the author of this blog get his hands on this information? Why can't we see it? What's the name of it? When was it declassified? A quick google search finds the same story being echoed verbatim by the likes of the Daily Mail and others; all of which simply link back to this blog as the source. Until we see an actual source, it's bullshit - how are we supposed to know they didn't just make this up?

    The article summary said "can't turn or climb fast enough" but the article itself showcases the pilot complaining about nose-rate only - i.e. turn rate. As anyone who knows anything about Air Combat Maneuvering can tell you, turn rate is the LEAST important aspect of maneuverability. Roll rate is far, far more important, as every aerodynamic maneuver aside from a loop begins with a roll. Aircraft with superior roll rate can shake better-turning fighters through maneuvers like the rolling scissors. Unsurprisingly, its through tactics like these that the F4F Wildcat held its own against the Japanese Zero, and when the Wildcat was up-engined to become the F6F Hellcat it dominated the Zero flat-out. The US Navy would later adopt the F4F Phantom, a fighter that eschewed turn-rate entirely in favor of absolutely insane thrust (the jet set several world speed records.) They were told this plane could not dogfight - and then pilots like Duke Cunningham defeated nimble little MiG-17s in close combat.

    Once upon a time a group of industry experts who thought the Japanese had it right formed a clique named the "Lightweight Fighter Mafia," and their efforts eventually produced the F-16. Pleased with their accomplishment, they spent their time since then spewing BS about every single aircraft to come after it, including the F-18. To this day you hear people claiming the F-18 is a "turkey" and "can't dogfight" and that the navalized F-16 was passed over by the Navy due to sheer inter-service rivalry and pigheadedness. That this bullshit flies in the face of actual pilot accounts doesn't seem to slow them down a whit. The F-22 had its turn on the bullseye, and now it's the F-35s turn.

    In light of the decades-old pattern of "sneer at the new expensive jet" popular amongst industry professionals and armchair warriors alike, a complete failure of the article to quote any opinion on the F-35s vertical maneuvering ability (the go-to counter to turnfighter tactics) and the simple fact that the source is completely undisclosed, I'm calling bullshit on this one - and on everyone who decided to sling out a pithy comment without doing a five-second bullshit check. I thought /. readerbase was supposed to be smart?

    1. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Posting AC to not undo mods: I can't speak to the all of what you're speaking. But the F6F Hellcat is not simply an "Upengined F4F." It was a completely new design, and designed specifically to counter the Zero. And even it couldn't (or wasn't supposed to) dogfight with a Zero, because the Zero was more maneuverable. Instead it was meant to use 'boom and zoom' tactics to put the fight on more favorable terms where it had the advantage, such as in speed. The F-35 doesn't appear to have any of the advantages. It's slower, and is (arguably, perhaps) less maneuverable. Maybe it won't be as bad as people say, but there's also the fact that a great pilot can win with fewer advantages by playing to his/her strengths, but an average one has a harder time doing so. The plane DOES matter. Chuck Yeager shot down jets in his P-51, does that we should still be using propeller driven fighters? For this kind of price tag, I'd want a plane that can not only do VSTOL, but can do Gerwalk mode at a minimum, if not full Battroid.

    2. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great comment overall, but this part:

      I thought /. readerbase was supposed to be smart?

      Made me laugh. Thanks!

      Most of the intelligent readers abandoned Slashdot a few years back for another site (unnamed because I don't want the trolls here to wander to this better site). I'm not sure why I still visit Slashdot... perhaps for nostalgia... but definitely not for quality content.

    3. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Phantom II pozer!

      Talk about 5-sec BS

    4. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by whodunit · · Score: 1

      But the F6F Hellcat is not simply an "Upengined F4F."

      Quite correct! The F6F went from the Wildcat's 9-cylinder radial to the beastly 18 cylinder Double Wasp radial engine. The airframe had to be lengthened and modified just to admit that engine, and the whole shebang became bigger to admit other improvements (such as a hydraulic system to raise the landing gear.) The F6F was a direct developmental step up from the F4F, just as the F4F was a further refinement based on the F3F (which was a biplane!) It's worth mentioning that a "true" upengined F4F did exist; the FM-2. The larger Hellcat couldn't operate off of smaller escort carriers, so F4Fs were re-engined for service on them.

      And even it couldn't (or wasn't supposed to) dogfight with a Zero, because the Zero was more maneuverable.

      Not quite. Hearken back to roll rate being the most important aspect of maneuverability, then consult this old NACA roll rate chart. The Zero was a very poor roller, which meant it was in trouble versus any foe who declined to pull into a sustained turn. Against the Wildcat it had its phenomenal climbing ability... but the F6F retained the Wildcat's excellent roll rate and drastically increased the power available. The Zero could still out-climb an F6F on paper, but if it tried to get on a Hellcat's tail by entering a loop (enticing the pursuer to climb after and stall out, which would reverse their positions,) the Zero would simply be riddled with bullets as it hovered at the top of its loop by the Hellcat, whereas a Wildcat would've stalled out before it could draw a bead. The Zero's handling became more and more atrocious as airspeed increased, and though it was light and accelerated quite well, it retained energy poorly through sustained maneuvers (poor inertia.) There are many, many ways to dogfight that do not entail tight turns and do not involve a series of boom-and-zoom passes such as the rolling scissors, straight and circular yo-yos and so forth.

      The F-35 doesn't appear to have any of the advantages. It's slower

      That doesn't count for as much as you might think in air combat maneuvering. Aircraft bleed energy when they turn, so power/weight ratio, acceleration and the "cleanness" of the aircraft (its drag co-efficient) play a much greater role. This "report" with no name and no source is long on buzzwords and short on details; it alleges that the F-35 falls behind in the energy game, but the only reason mentioned in the article is the pilot using the energy-intensive sideslip to gain angles for shots. What about vertical performance? Were they going for supersonic snapshots in the merge, or taking tail-end shots during flat or rolling scissors? Remember, we heard the same inane complaints about the F-22 from the Fighter Mafia, including the gem "it's too big and will be spotted easily." Being big and easy to see didn't inhibit the P-47 back when the Mk1 eyeball was the only sensor, much less in the radar age. And the F-22 has an insane nose-pointing ability, which we only know about because a pilot slipped up and alluded to its post-stall turning ability (vectored thrust and all.) It can also hit supersonic speed at military power, without need for gas-guzzling afterburners, which alone ensures it's going to enter a fight with more energy to start with, as well as retain energy well (it has to be very slick to achieve supersonic without afterburners!) This didn't spare it the same rough treatment the F-14 received, or the F-18, or indeed any US built fighter that isn't the sainted and precious F-16. Between the scant - and suspect - statements in the article, and the decades-long pattern of nonsense slander hurled at every new airframe that isn't "light," I can't help but feel the article is incredibly suspect.

    5. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by whodunit · · Score: 1

      Amen. It's depressing to see how informative and on-point today's /. can be when talking about things in their field only to see them apply incredulous, blanket statements to anything they're not as familiar with. More than anything /. seems to have lost its curiosity about techy topics - they can't even stir enough interest in something cool like fighter planes to hit up google for five seconds.

    6. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey mods, this post is so wrong, but with pseudo-knowledgeable terms, I can only imagine it must be astroturfing. Seriously, go look up basic fighter maneuvers (start with "2-circle fight") to see the primacy of turn rate or actually read the linked article about rolling scissors to see that roll rate has little to do with it.

    7. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      You do not need a "golden source" to see the obvious.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    8. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good nose, but there are several nuances you seem to be missing:

      when the Wildcat was up-engined to become the F6F Hellcat it dominated the Zero flat-out.

      (1) The Hellcat was an entirely separate design (from the same company), with *no* parts in common, whose primary goal was to incorporate combat experience into a design capable of beating extant models (primarily the Zero) and anticipated models in the hands of a typical pilot.
      (2) In fact, its design was modified during development in response to analysis and flight tests conducted using a captured Zero which crashed intact in a bog in Alaska.
      (3) Japan bet that maintaining full production of maximized designs like the Zero was better than losing production (and hence ground, literally) switching to newer designs. (Obviously even that was not to be enough; some late-war Japanese designs were excellent, but were too little, too late.) Thus the Zero carried on with its design headroom exhausted in the face of a weapon specifically designed to defeat it.
      (4) American planes had increasing numerical superiority from the introduction of the F6F due both to attrition and overwhelming US production.
      (5) The experience level and ability of typical Japanese pilots decreased as F6F deployment increased, again due to attrition.

      They were told [the F4 Phantom II] could not dogfight - and then pilots like Duke Cunningham defeated nimble little MiG-17s in close combat.

      You're obfuscating the issue at hand: the Phantom II continued a philosophy of fighter design and tactics American fighters from the Wildcat to the Hellcat to the Corsair had used to such great effect; namely, the energy fighting concept, wherein a less agile but faster fighter dictates the engagement by making slashing attacks and trading between speed and altitude rather than engaging in "classical" dogfighting. The Phantom II could not dogfight in the classic fur-ball sense, but was very effective when its advantages were pressed, and this is simply the end-game of dogfighting tactics forced upon a faster but less agile antagonist willing to engage the slower opponent.

    9. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by SomeoneFromBelgium · · Score: 1

      I can't argue about the detail of air combat, since I'm a laymen. But the way I read the article the complaint about the nose-rate was only secondary. I had the impression that the pilot was mostly complaining about a lack of engine power. And that this in combination with energy bleeding quite heavily in sharp turns and manouvers put him at a distict disadvantage.
      I would imagine that if you find your aircraft underpowered that this would mean you cannot choose your engagement conditions. The other is faster and accelerates faster which means that if he is upon you, you have no way to escape.

    10. Re:No Source, No Story - complete bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RE: whodunit

      Thank you.

      This article reeks of selective "facts".

  52. They'll never see it coming by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    Because it never will be coming.

  53. Echo? by Chewbacon · · Score: 1

    You can't make a plane that does everything.

    --
    Chewbacon
    The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
  54. airplanes use guns? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought planes use air to air missiles these days? What year is this, 1942? Just asking.

  55. F-15 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The reality is, a squadron of F-15s would wipe the floor with the F-35. As has been proven in every simulated combat to date.

    Air superiority will never be achieved with planes that lack superior maneuverability and speed.

    However, the days of manned fighters are already over. The next major conflict will be won by the country that can produce the best drone fighters that don't have to worry about pulping a pilot with extreme g-force maneuvers.

  56. so then use french rafale by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a news that doesn't bother me, as I am living in France ... :)

  57. The second coming of Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The going theory in aircraft design during the Vietnam War era was that guided missiles would make guns (and indeed, close range dogfighting) obsolete. The earliest Sidewinder and Falcon missiles were not good enough to kill the dogfighter rationale, so the F-14, the F-15, and the F-16 were born as maneuverable fighters to various extents.

    Now technology once again threatens to make dogfighting obsolete, but this time they can back it up... right?

  58. article is probably very misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This article doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The F-35 isn't in ACM testing yet, let along against other aircraft. It only just recently began angle of attack testing, so any previous 'mock' ACM testing was done with conservative flight control limits in place.

    Also none of the F-35's have the gun control software yet so it wouldn't be able to compute leads yet.

    It also doesn't jive with any published data or other pilot comments. We know the F-35 has much higher AoA limits then the F-16, higher even then the F-18. We know it has tremendous thrust and energy addition when lightly loaded. It's described by pilots has having the best qualities of the F-16 and F-18, without their vices (namely that the F-16 has low AoA limits, and the F-18 accelerates slowly).

    I'd like very much to read the full document.

  59. Pork barrels versus real weapons by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 2

    There is some ceiling on US military spending beyond which they will not be allowed to go. This portion of this for weapons needs to be split in some manner between weapons necessary to enforce US foreign policy, and weapons spending with domestic political benefits. At the time the JSF boondoggle was getting underway, it seemed the US would be facing weak opposition in conflicts. That allowed spending on combat weapons to be restricted, and more to be allocated towards pork barrel projects like the JSF. Indeed, with less projected need for weapons used in warmongering, projects like the JSF were important to keep military spending near its permitted ceiling. The situation is now a bit different. To support US foreign policy, a credible deterrent against a resurgent Russia and increasingly aggressive China is now needed. The JSF may need to go to free up cash for real weapons systems.

  60. Contractor Headlien: JSF proves superior to by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

    fighters do to new, unique maneuver ability.

    Col. Boyd must be turning over in his grave. Looks like the USAF is buying another very expensive crew bus...

    --
    I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  61. That test pilot doesn't understand the F-35's role by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That silly guy doesn't understand the role the F-35 is designed to fill. It's not meant to be a fighter jet. It's not meant to be an airplane of any kind -- that's merely a side effect of its true purpose.

    It's meant to spend money. Lots of money in lots of congressional districts. And it does that very, very well. It's getting congressmen reelected because they brought federal dollars home to buy votes. Understand that and you understand just how successful the F-35 program truly is.

    Also, I find it funny that my captcha is "taxonomy".

  62. Rename it! by stackOVFL · · Score: 1

    Strike the JSF and call it the JSB, "Joint Strike Bomber" that kind kinda sorta maneuvers. Weight: 20,000 lbs for the F-16 and ~23,000 lbs for the F-35 Engine thrust (dry): F-16 29,500 lbs F-35 25,000 lbs So, the F-35 weighs more and has less thrust than a F-16. My math said whatdaya expect.

  63. Korea NT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Korean war

  64. Military industrial complex by infidel_heathen · · Score: 2

    In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

    We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

    - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

  65. Map of F-35 Economic Impact by Sir_Eptishous · · Score: 1

    Someone may have already posted this...

    From this map you can see how widespread the $$$ is, and that there are so many congressional districts in the US benefitting from this program, to cancel or make changes to it now would be political suicide for the scumbag congressmen who initiated it.

    60 Minutes did a decent job on the F-35 a while back, where the vibe from the Marine general, after being asked if he was going to get the F-35 operational in time was like that of one of Hitlers generals saying he would stop the Soviets after the disaster at Kursk...

    Also, take a look at how many countries are already "in the pipe" on ordering for these. A lot.

    The US and its allies better hope that when China finally decides to make their own high end fighter jets(which are currently based on Russian-made Sukhoi jets), based on all they have learned after waltzing into the US DOD databases, that it is as much of a CF as the F-35 is.

    --
    We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
  66. What is his source exactly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Okey everyone seems to be to caught up with this report that they forgot to ask themselves if it's true in the first place.

    The basis of this report was from a post on "War is boring". A blog by David Axe who is a known F-35 critic.

    David cites an "unnamed pilot" who gave him "secret documents" that says the F-35 is inferior to the F-16.

    And we are simply supposed to believe this because.....why again?

    There are many pilots who refute this claim.

    The Norwegian airforce claims that in A-A configuration the F-35 is just as good or better than the F-16.

    Topgun instructor Lt.Col Matthew Kelly and Brig Gen. Gary Thomas say that the F-35 will be comfortable at any type of dogfight
    Read here:
    http://www.defensenews.com/article/20110516/DEFSECT01/105160302/F-35-Tests-Proceed-Revealing-F-18-Like-Performance

    Test pilot Billy Flynn who flew F-16s, F/A-18s and Typhoons say that F-35 can match those aircraft in any maneuvering metric and surpass them in some.

    Lt Col Lee Kloss went on record that the F-35A has superior maneuverability than a loaded block 50/52 viper.
    Read here:
    http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2012/05/eglin-f-35-initial-cadre-start/

    These guys have staked their names and reputation on their claims.

    But here we are believing some blogger with his imaginary friend who says otherwise.

    1. Re:What is his source exactly? by stackOVFL · · Score: 1

      You could be right. But it's spreading in the media faster that a congressional request for Clintons' emails. I'd hope a rebuttal would be published before too much damage s done.

  67. Empower the pilot by holophrastic · · Score: 1

    Like so many other "tools" these days, this one attempts to provide advantages via some form of automation -- be it in terms of the structural aircraft, or the features within it. Every time anyone ever focuses on such a goal, they reduce the required expertise of the user -- in this case the pilot -- substantially.

    Everyone always thinks that's a good thing -- if it can be operated with less learning, then it can be operated by more users. They always forget that every advantage is a sacrifice of some other advantage. If it can be operated with less expertise, then there is less expertise that can be learned.

    The end result is almost always the same. A rookie pilot can operate better, sooner, and an expert pilot can do less.

    That's fine with self-assemble furniture. It sucks with military applications like this one. I'm always for tools that empower the operator into a god. Imagine a fighter jet, requires many many more hours of learning to master, but that allows the expert pilot to do so much more.

    In my head, that's a very lean aircraft, bordering on ultralight. It's also an aircraft with guns that point backwards -- one day someone will explain to me why we love dog fighting so much that we insist on being unable to kill the enemy right behind us. I digress.

    I'm confident that an expert pilot doesn't want a fancy helmet HUD at all. He just wants to be able to see -- gauges, backwards, what's going on. And I'm certain that an expert pilot knows most of what's going on without his eyes -- I'm sure his left buttock gives him more information than any HUD ever could.

    1. Re:Empower the pilot by whodunit · · Score: 1

      In my head, that's a very lean aircraft, bordering on ultralight. It's also an aircraft with guns that point backwards -- one day someone will explain to me why we love dog fighting so much that we insist on being unable to kill the enemy right behind us. I digress.

      The experiment has been tried, with little success. However, modern heat-seeking missiles are capable of making greater-than-90-degree turns to engage targets behind the launching plane's 90-degree line - they can, indeed, engage targets behind the plane! This is only possible due to the helmet-mounted HUD, incidentally - look at what you want to kill, the plane's inertial guidance systems lock on and tell the missile where to fly (blind) till the IR seeker can achieve a lock on its own.

      I'm confident that an expert pilot doesn't want a fancy helmet HUD at all.

      You'd be wrong. The most essential thing for a fighter pilot is situational awareness - they budget that resource as if its tangible as ammo or fuel. If your situational awareness is too low, that's a better reason to bug out than being low on ammo! Losing sight of your target during hard maneuvering is a big no-no and usually gives the enemy a huge advantage.

      I've been playing fighter plane sims since Dynamax's Red Baron was the new kid on the block, and I can tell you that maintaining eye contact with a bandit while trying to fly your plane at the same time is very hard. It's even harder for real pilots due to "disorientation." Your innate sense of motion can lie to you, especially if you have no visual reference to stabilize it by (such as an enemy plane against a clear blue sky) and this has often killed pilots who trusted their left buttock more than their instruments on a dark night (including one of the Kennedy's some years ago.) Most of my simulators have a "realistic" mode and a "glass cockpit" mode which helpfully gives you perfect 360 degree vision as well as a HUD display that always floats in front of where you're looking. Being able to watch my airspeed, climb angle and other info while keeping eyes on a bandit is a massive advantage.

    2. Re:Empower the pilot by holophrastic · · Score: 1

      Interesting. But my point surrounds situational awareness without invasive technology. I doubt any crop-dusting biplane pilot has any trouble with situational awareness -- it's all wide open. It's the enclosed jet, and the crazy number of jet systems that remove the mind from the situation. That's what I'm saying needs to be addressed -- technologically.

    3. Re:Empower the pilot by whodunit · · Score: 1

      You've put your finger right on a crucial problem - the danger of these next-gen information systems to actually overload the pilot rather than help them. The F-35 actually has six infrared cameras mounted around the plane that deliver a feed from their "sector" when the pilot looks down or behind him, letting him see "through" the plane, just like the "glass cockpit" in my video games do. It's obviously powerful and incredible, but there's a story on Slashdot right now about how HUD systems can distract a vehicle operator with too much extraneous data. Choosing what to display, how much to display, where to display it - even coding intelligent algorithms that adjust the data being shown based on contextual need will all be vital parts of making these next-generation instrumentation systems work.

      Information overload has been a problem for many decades; with pilots devoting a lot of time and training to mastering the "instrument scan" and collecting and processing data quickly and efficiently from their many gauges in emergencies. As we move into the next generation of information displays, making sure we're improving, rather then degrading the pilots ability to process the important, relevant information swiftly in appropriate situations will be crucial.

    4. Re:Empower the pilot by holophrastic · · Score: 1

      So let's you and I try to come to a consensus here and now as to the next effort to be undertaken in this regard.

      I think you've pointed us in the best direction with that current HUD article. It is this: what's with all of the focus on visual information?

      A human being is way more than floating eyes; in fact, the eyes are the most cognitively expensive feature. Overlosading it is easy to do, even by accident.

      The thing is, a human pilot doesn't need to see most of the gauges. Most of them show numerical information with far greater resolution than is usually necessary. For example, altitude to the foot is not necessary outside of landing scenarios. Being able to see through the plane is completely useless when nothing is there.

      But I see a human being sitting in a chair. Not walking, not running, not smelling, not tasting, not feeling a temperature, not being hugged, not being caressed by a loved one. There are so many human faculties -- most of which are wired directly into the human spine, and one wired directly into the human brain -- going almost completely unused. Why not tap into those?

      A pilot could easily know where the bandit is by a simulated caress (or vibration) on the relevant part of the body -- upper back, lower back, left shoulder, right shoulder, et cetera. Visual HUD information can be the detail upon request. Here's a thought, how about a gentle pull of the neck towards the bandit. Easily felt, easily overcome.

      I've got one of those non-fan heat dishes for my grandmother. It's basically an IR heat-ray. Altitude could certainly be conveyed by the localized temperature in the cockpit, or in the helmet. A ten degree range would be easily understood, and a twenty degree change even more so. Colder at high altitude makes sense.

      There are myriad tactile sensory inputs to be used, including a gently squeezing of the upper arm as a fuel gauge. The really amazing thing about any such system is how the brain adjusts memory as a result - with different memory banks for high vs low altitude because of temperature sensation -- something a numerical altimiter can never provide.

      In any event, to summarize, I see a few dozen inputs into the human brain, and I see only the visual cortex being used.

    5. Re:Empower the pilot by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      Couple of points. 10 rookies operating at a good level will likely kill one expert. The F35 is not an air superiority fighter like the f22. It is meant to be ok at everything and to have a cubic fuckload of them in the air so you want to bring your average pilot level up the most, even if it means you bring your experts down. Overall that would be a net gain.

      For a rear facing gun there are a couple of reasons. The first is that it would mean 1 less gun facing forward or reduced ammo / capability of both. Second is that it would be almost impossible to aim and you would be likely to make yourself an easier target if you did. Third is fighters don't operate alone, they are focussed on putting an attacker into a compromised position through manoeuvrability AND their wingman.

      On what a pilot prefers I can't comment. But I would expect that the more information the pilot has the more they can do with it.

  68. Return, Reload, Repeat as necessary. by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    Presumably when you are very far away and invisible to the enemy, you fly back to where ever you came from, reload, and repeat until the enemy has no planes left. I think this is generally the idea behind the whole F-35 concept.

    The other idea (which is why it is so expensive) is in a supposed cost saving measure (lol!) in that rather than design, build, and support multiple airframes designed to do different things, you only make one that does them all. The draw back being that doing them all really well (like dogfighting) is a bit unrealistic. Compounding the issue is functionality creep, where you had various stakeholders (different branches of the armed forces) start adding additional requirements making designing variants anyway such as the vertical takeoff model, which further exacerbates an already blown budget.

    Anyway the enemy counter to this, is to build sufficiently good planes, that are very cheap, so that in such an encounter, you just throw pilots at the F-35 until they run out of firepower, then continue advancing to targets while they are rearming. The two things going against this is the ratio of cheap plans to available F-35 and number of armaments they might carry, and also the moral of your pilots flying the planes. Pilots are pretty autonomous insofar as soldiers go, as seen in the gulf war, sufficiently moraless pilots would just fly over and defect rather than just get blown out of the sky. The famous instances of this were the Russians in WWII throwing soldiers into the meat grinder, then having moral officers waiting behind them should they decide to retreat... Can't see that working with air warfare, and even if it did, then you have to have some moral planes trailing the possible defectors... Then again you could build in remote detonators, however at that point having superior electronic warfare (which the US and F-35 likely does), you could possible win any engagement from afar with a single button press...

    1. Re:Return, Reload, Repeat as necessary. by goarilla · · Score: 1

      Presumably when you are very far away and invisible to the enemy, you fly back to where ever you came from, reload, and repeat until the enemy has no planes left. I think this is generally the idea behind the whole F-35 concept.

      Yeah, but once radar tech catches up you lose that tactic.

    2. Re:Return, Reload, Repeat as necessary. by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      Also doesn't work when the enemy is faster than you. They reach your base and bomb the runways before you get reloaded.

    3. Re:Return, Reload, Repeat as necessary. by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      The concept of the F-35 mission profile is a very, very arrogant one, and therefore condemned to a brutal failure. Come on, to assume that their planes will always be "invincible" and will never be hit by the enemy? The project authors smoked crack?

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    4. Re:Return, Reload, Repeat as necessary. by Dr_Terminus · · Score: 1

      Everyone needs to remember that the F35 is not the military's primary air superiority fighter. The F22 is meant for this role. Which means that in a combat situation, the F22s would come in first, or along with the F35s to establish air superiority and knock down any enemy fighters. F35s would likely be tasked with taking out any SAM, ground radar or other ground-based threats.

  69. You missed the main point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps the info is not proven reliable atm, BUT it has highlighted an expenditure of over a trillion dollars on a project which product that is becoming a lemon.
    How it is allowed to go on and lose more funds into this money pit demands an independent review/investigation.
    Unleash the reporter Michael Moore on this all American project!!

  70. War is Boring is shit by inhuman_4 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Oh look, another F-35 hack job by David Axe from War is Boring. Maybe if he wasn't so consistently full of shit, or actually had a source to quote I'd bother to read his blog.

    First, it's a strike fighter, why the fuck are people getting so worked up about dog-fighting? You know that these planes are not yet rated for their full flight envelope, or you would if Axe did his job. You would also know that the F-35 has more than twice the range of the F-16. Imagine that, a strike fighter that carrier more weight in fuel than point defence fighter. It's almost like dog-fighting wasn't the primary design goal. You know what else can't dogfight? The A-10 that guys like Axe are always furiously masturbating over.

    Second, this isn't the 1970s. Sure dogfights may happen, but a hell of a lot less than BVR attacks and SAMs. And before anyone starts talking about Vietnam, go look at the numbers for that war. The little blurb you got about F-4 Phantom from watching Top Gun is wrong. For every plane lost in a dogfight, two were lost to AA missiles, and five were lost to SAMs, in the fucking 70s. Lord knows the world hasn't had any other conflicts since then from which to draw lessons.

    Third, it's the most expensive plane program in history at $1T? No shit, the program is to build and maintain almost 3,000 fighters over 50 years. In fact is "almost" as expensive as the $3T to keep doing what we are doing: pumping out a half dozen different air frames with no common supply chain so that each one can be good at exactly one mission. But if you still think it is too expensive, I have to ask, compared to what? The F-22? Not even close. The Eurofighter? Lol. Russia's latest vaporware? Sure if they ever build more than some prototypes. Some last generation platform with no stealth? Sure that will make a great strike platform against an air defence system in contested air space. The money you save on a "cheap" F-16 Block 60s at $70 million vs an F-35A at ~$85-90 million, won't even cover the cost of all the extra shit you have to attach to it to F-16 to get the same performance.

    These endless hack jobs on the F-35 project need to stop. This isn't 2008, we have over 100 of these things flying already. They are a mostly known quantity, and they greatly out perform the systems they are going to replace.

    1. Re:War is Boring is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd like to see the F35 deal with sorts of environments the A10 was designed to handle.

    2. Re:War is Boring is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the Navy and the Marines, it will be the only fighter they have.

      That Carrier Air Wing from Top Gun is going to be fighting on its own, without help from the F-22. The F-35 was sold as being able to do "everything." It's going to have to take over the Air Superiority role from the F-18 (and the F-14 before it).

      As a vet and a student of military history, I can tell you this isn't the first time a weapon system was sold that way. Every instance to date, anything that was billed as a jack of all trades turned out to be pretty bad at everything, and at best got relegated to a single role that it did okay at. Maybe I'm wrong - but do you honestly think it will provide CAS better than an A-10, provide Air Superiority better than an F-15/16, etc? I'd honestly love to buy the hype on this plane, but every instinct tells me it's going to be garbage.

    3. Re:War is Boring is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You would also know that the F-35 has more than twice the range of the F-16

      That doesn't seem to be the case. Lockheed Martin and the US Air Force say the F-16 has a range of 1,740 nautical miles whereas the F-35A has a range of 1,200 nautical miles. Even if the F-35A's range improves in the future, it seems unlikely it will ever have twice the range of the F-16. Maybe if the F-35 gets a new engine in the mid-2020s its range will improve.

    4. Re:War is Boring is shit by Graymalkin · · Score: 1

      So you'd like to see the F-35 trying to mow down Ruskie tank columns trying to break through the Fulda Gap after air superiority had been achieved? That was the environment that the A-10 was designed to handle. The A-10 was designed to be a flying tank because it was meant to fly low and take enemy AA fire. Its air defense capabilities are really only useful against attack helicopters.

      The F-35 can't take the beating that an A-10 would shrug off but it's unlikely to receive such a beating. In an anti-armor role the F-35 isn't going to do low and slow strafing runs with its guns and doesn't need keep its boresight on target to hit with its air-to-ground missiles. In the CAS role the F-35 has a much longer range, higher speed, and longer loiter time than the A-10. It can deliver precision guided munitions much faster than the A-10 and then scamper off to the next target.

      The F-35 is also capable of carrying more combat payload than the A-10. It can carry more munitions faster and farther than the A-10, all with low observability (depending on payload configuration obviously). When it returns from a CAS or strike mission it can also re-arm and fly CAP.

      The A-10 is a nice plane and obviously very survivable. Its replacement however does not need to have all of the exact same characteristics to perform the same tasks.

      --
      I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
    5. Re:War is Boring is shit by ksheff · · Score: 1

      They are a mostly known quantity, and they greatly out perform the systems they are going to replace.

      That may be true unless you are looking for speed & agility to replace what the Navy and Air Force need it for or survivability while attacking ground targets like the A-10. It is supposed to match the F-16 manueverability and acceleration, but according to the test pilot report, it can't. In IMHO, instead of a fighter that "a jack of all trades, master of none", it would have been better to design different airframes for different roles, but have common subsystems where possible so you can have a common supply chain. Let the Marines have their STOVL aircraft that they think they need so badly, but don't cripple the other services. If the Chinese can make a F-35 clone, but without the problems brought on by having an airframe that can handle STOVL capability, Lockheed should be able to do it too.

      --
      the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
    6. Re:War is Boring is shit by SomeoneFromBelgium · · Score: 1

      Well, can't comment on the author. But let's look at your 3 points.
      1. It's a strike fighter: there we agree. What is the problem? That it is supposed to repace all other aircrafts. So it must be able to dogfight too. Sure it has a longer range but in this example the F-16 had additional tanks so that should even it up. Only it didn't. And yes the A10 can't dog fight and isn't designed for it. But the A10 doesn't need to because it was meant to be supported by F-16, F18 and F-15 aircrafts that would do everything else except close air support and hitting 'hard targets'. The F-35 is supposed to do all this by itself...

      2. Indeed BVR is gaining ground and is getting more and more important. Question is: do you want to send out your pilots in an aircraft that can't dogfight? Especially if you know that it is slower than most enemy aircrafts? That means that it could be hunted down and killed without any way to escape.

      3. I can't comment on the costs of the current air fleet in the US. I do know that my country (Belgium) and our close neighbour (the Netherlands) are both struggeling to find some way to make it appear as if the f-35 is affordable. On the other hand they are looking at 'synergies' like defending the combined airspace with only half the fighters in order to be able to pay for it. The cost of the f-35 is significantly higher than that of the competition (according to our media).

  71. We have always known it was a bad plane by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    And, conversely, we have always known the A-10 Warthog is a good plane.

    Time to call it a day.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  72. F-35 not designed to dogfight by selectspec · · Score: 1

    The F-35 is a ground attack fighter - not a dog fighter. The F-22 Raptor is the bleeding edge dog fighter. The problem is that the F-22 program was cancelled due to budget issues. Issue is not a design flaw in the F-35.

    --

    Someone you trust is one of us.

  73. Base Stickers??? by AF_Cheddar_Head · · Score: 1

    ALL AF bases and the majority of the the other services did away with base stickers several years ago and now everyone in the vehicle over the age of 16 has to display a valid Government issued ID to get on base. That being said it is still relatively to get onto most installations but the steal a vehicle with a base sticker thing no longer applies.

    1. Re:Base Stickers??? by ncc74656 · · Score: 1

      ALL AF bases and the majority of the the other services did away with base stickers several years ago and now everyone in the vehicle over the age of 16 has to display a valid Government issued ID to get on base.

      All? I'd swear last time I accompanied my father (retired AF) on base at either Nellis or Wright-Patterson, the skycop just asked for his ID, not mine. It might be different overseas, and it's been different here at various times in the past, but unless they've changed things yet again since this past December, they most likely only care about the driver's ID.

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
    2. Re:Base Stickers??? by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      They're supposed to check all IDs, but yeah. Security theater.

    3. Re:Base Stickers??? by weweedmaniii · · Score: 1

      Didn't need your ID because he was your "sponsor" with a military ID. If no one is active, reserve or retired military, everybody has to hand over an ID. That stopped my fiance (no US issued ID yet) from entering a military post, had to call my nephew who is active duty to escort us in.

      --
      "If stupid things work...then they are not stupid."
  74. Obama, er, bomb them from afar! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're not say that Obama has no conscience, are you?

    At least he isn't sending them to Gitmo, like Bush. Obama is doing them all a favor by killing them remotely (and any innocents that might be around.)

  75. I do not think that means what you think it mean . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    VTOL was dropped from the spec a long time ago.
    Now it is short take off, vertical landing.
    After fixing the Spalled Concrete, melted Asphalt, or damaged decking.

    "Relax the Spec"

  76. Tell us about "AlmostAllAdsBlocked+" Coren22 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & LMAO @ U, boy -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    FACT: "AlmostALLAdsBlocked+" is INFERIOR vs. hosts - hugely so!

    AB+ doesn't even DO what it's supposed to fully anymore being BRIBED http://finance.yahoo.com/news/... not to!

    AB+ doesn't do a FRACTION of what hosts do for more speed, security, reliability, + anonymity online!

    AB+ EATS 128mb of RAM (vs. hosts @ 11 *maybe* tops via my program with CURRENT data, the important kind vs. current threats + ads) http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte...

    AB+ adds messagepassing overheads!

    AB+ operates in SLOWER usermode (vs. hosts in PnP kernelmode)

    AB+ creates huge CPU consumption!

    AB+ is also detectable by clarityray (via native browser methods) nullifying it (not hosts).

    ---

    I use what you already have that works & does more with LESS, no less - you by way of comparison? Pile on "MoAr" that doesn't do as nearly as much & what it's supposed to do, massively inefficiently no less (see above)?

    Ab+ NO LONGER DOES!

    * AFTER ALL THAT?

    AB+ = "better", Coren22?? LMAO - NO f'ing way!

    If you say it is, you are *TRULY* stupid & I'd reply saying "argue with the numbers" & facts above, from reputable sources & analysis proving my points for me!

    APK

    P.S.=> Gonna go "cry in your cereal" now, boy?

    (You ought to for being STUPID enough to use OR SUGGEST a blatantly INFERIOR solution! See above - it's fact & truth via reputable sources)... apk

  77. Coren22: Questions 4u... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject, "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" - Can ab+ do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites/servers (past ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stops C&C communique
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stops C&C communique
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stops C&C communique
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (adds reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phish
    10.) Protect vs. caps
    11.) Get you past a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on anything webbound (ie email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily controlled data
    16.) Do all that & block ads more efficiently in cpu + memory usage vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on ab+ doing it or as well + hosts = already on every device natively.

    APK

    P.S.=> Ab+ does less than hosts & less efficiently - hosts do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    Ab+'s 128mb memory inefficiency -> http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte... (hosts consume 3-11mb using my program initially).

    +

    ClarityRay defeats it dumping addons in use in a browser via native browser methods to do so!

    +

    Ab+'s paid to not do its job http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ab+ adds complexity + slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    What's best?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    &

    It's GUARANTEED safe & clean per it being checked by 57 antivirus programs recently in BOTH its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    In its 32-bit model also https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    ... apk

  78. Coren22: Questions 4u... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject, "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" - Can ab+ do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites/servers (past ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stops C&C communique
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stops C&C communique
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stops C&C communique
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (adds reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phish
    10.) Protect vs. caps
    11.) Get you past a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on anything webbound (ie email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily controlled data
    16.) Do all that & block ads more efficiently in cpu + memory usage vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on ab+ doing it or as well + hosts = already on every device natively.

    APK

    P.S.=> Ab+ does less than hosts & less efficiently - hosts do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    Ab+'s 128mb memory inefficiency -> http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte... (hosts consume 3-11mb using my program initially).

    +

    ClarityRay defeats it dumping addons in use in a browser via native browser methods to do so!

    +

    Ab+'s paid to not do its job http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ab+ adds complexity + slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    What's best?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    &

    It's GUARANTEED safe & clean per it being checked by 57 antivirus programs recently in BOTH its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    In its 32-bit model also https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    ... apk

  79. Tell us about "AlmostAllAdsBlocked+" Coren22 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & LMAO @ U, boy -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    FACT: "AlmostALLAdsBlocked+" is INFERIOR vs. hosts - hugely so!

    AB+ doesn't even DO what it's supposed to fully anymore being BRIBED http://finance.yahoo.com/news/... not to!

    AB+ doesn't do a FRACTION of what hosts do for more speed, security, reliability, + anonymity online!

    AB+ EATS 128mb of RAM (vs. hosts @ 11 *maybe* tops via my program with CURRENT data, the important kind vs. current threats + ads) http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte...

    AB+ adds messagepassing overheads!

    AB+ operates in SLOWER usermode (vs. hosts in PnP kernelmode)

    AB+ creates huge CPU consumption!

    AB+ is also detectable by clarityray (via native browser methods) nullifying it (not hosts).

    ---

    I use what you already have that works & does more with LESS, no less - you by way of comparison? Pile on "MoAr" that doesn't do as nearly as much & what it's supposed to do, massively inefficiently no less (see above)?

    Ab+ NO LONGER DOES!

    * AFTER ALL THAT?

    AB+ = "better", Coren22?? LMAO - NO f'ing way!

    If you say it is, you are *TRULY* stupid & I'd reply saying "argue with the numbers" & facts above, from reputable sources & analysis proving my points for me!

    APK

    P.S.=> Gonna go "cry in your cereal" now, boy?

    (You ought to for being STUPID enough to use OR SUGGEST a blatantly INFERIOR solution! See above - it's fact & truth via reputable sources)... apk

  80. Gunning dogfights - who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yep, good post.

    When was the last time a U.S. fighter used guns to take down another modern fighter? OK, once that is answered, what percentage of missions since then have experienced modern jet on modern jet with guns in a dogfight?

    Since a WWII sub can turn more tightly than an LA class submarine doesn't mean the LA is a piece of crap. I have been underway on several. Don't think so.

    The F35 may have it problems I'm sure. However, I hardly think losing a gun battle with another jet is relevant past exciting headlines and clever posts.

  81. warfare isn't Hollywood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cowards. But thats become the American way.

    Warfare, unlike Hollywood or recruiting posters, isn't about bravery, or honor, or heroism, or other nonsense; it's about killing the enemy. Not to say those traits aren't needed; they're an means to an end.

  82. Shouldn't be dogfighting anyway by SwashbucklingCowboy · · Score: 1

    But not having enough room in the cockpit to turn your head is bad. Really bad.

    1. Re:Shouldn't be dogfighting anyway by whodunit · · Score: 1

      Thank god making a helmet smaller and a canopy bigger isn't hard.

    2. Re:Shouldn't be dogfighting anyway by Pherdnut · · Score: 1

      Well I'm no aeronautics engineer... but then I'm guessing you aren't either so whether it is or isn't easy would be pure speculation. But what the heck. I imagine they decide on the airframe first and then see what they can fit in it second. Then when they can't, it's redesign on the entire airframe and start all over again with seeing how much they can cram into the thing.

  83. Dogfights still happen by sjbe · · Score: 1

    The last time we engaged in any real dogfights was Vietnam.

    Demonstrably not true.

    The Iraqis, who had the planes to dogfight us in the first war, fled to Iran because they figured they'd die of massed missile fire before they got into cannon range.

    Also factually wrong. They did engage in some dogfights at least at first though it didn't take long for the US to assert complete air superiority.

    1. Re:Dogfights still happen by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      That's not a lot of dogfights for an operation involving hundreds of aircraft and 100k sorties. Moreover most of the Coalition aircraft involved are F-15s. The F-15 has been replaced by the F-22, which implies that a doctrine based on having one good dogfighter and everyone else works. F-35 is the everyone else replacement.

  84. Sometimes yes it is important by sjbe · · Score: 1

    is Dogfighting really "the" efficient way to take care of fighter?

    Who said it had anything to do with efficiency? Of course you'd rather stand off and shoot them down with a missile but that's not always possible. Rules of engagement and emergent situations in war sometimes result in the fight getting close and ugly.

    With all new modern weaponry (AAM, SAM, laser etc.) I'm not completely sure if this feature is still relevant in modern time.

    They've been saying that since Vietnam and there is a reason fighters still have cannons.

    1. Re:Sometimes yes it is important by Eloking · · Score: 1

      Who said it had anything to do with efficiency? Of course you'd rather stand off and shoot them down with a missile but that's not always possible. Rules of engagement and emergent situations in war sometimes result in the fight getting close and ugly.

      I'm quite sure the military said the same thing to Churchill when they showed him the plan for the HMS Prince of Wales and as I said, in the past battleship were equipped for powerful close encounter that worked well...until a new technology (aircraft carrier) make them irrelevant. You don't see much battleship these day.

      My point is, even if we may see a few dogfight if a war erupt, will it still be a relevant factor in that conflict? Because, as for now, the Dogfighting capability of fighters seem to be less than 0.01% of total uses.

      They've been saying that since Vietnam and there is a reason fighters still have cannons.

      Yeah....I've saw the Vietnam example time and time again...but it's closest to WW2 than today (1954-1975). It's already 40 years ago.

      The closest Dogfighting recorded is in 1999 during the Balkans conflict, but it was 5 untrained pilot from Yugoslav Air Force again the US. Not what I would consider a decent reference.

      Unlike Fallout's motto, war changes.

      --
      Elok
    2. Re:Sometimes yes it is important by SomeoneFromBelgium · · Score: 1

      Yep. Question is not if you WANT to dogfight (you don't). Rather the question is: do you want to send your pilots into battle with an aircraft that is hopless in case it NEEDS to do dogfighting...

  85. hurrrr by jtrainor · · Score: 1

    And since when was the last time dogfights were a thing? This isn't the Vietnam era anymore. We have something these days called "missiles", and they work pretty damn good-- good enough that you can swat that annoying guy before he gets anywhere near you with a gun.

  86. Who cares about dog fights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we have an F-35 in a dog fight, that means someone screwed up big time!

    The F-35 is designed to take out hostile aircraft from beyond visual range.

    A dog fight is composed of IR missiles and guns. These are last-ditch weapons. If an F35 has let an enemy fighter in tha close, he's made a big mistake!

    In a normal engagement, an F35 will have killed the hostile aircraft with an AIM-120 long before they realize the F35 is even there. The first indication that the hostile aircraft has of the f35 will be the fact that their plane is on fire.

    1. Re:Who cares about dog fights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's assuming that it's a normal aircraft and not a stealth fighter

  87. Boo fucking hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cry a river, anonymous F35 test pilot. You assholes are already in enough wars and don't need better weapons to bomb little children, other non-combatants and wedding guests. Do the world a favour and mothball those nasty F35 and all your other fuel guzzling monstrosities.

  88. Refund! by pubwvj · · Score: 1

    Well that does it. I'm canceling my order of three of these F-35 jets to defend our country of Vermont.

    1. Re:Refund! by Pherdnut · · Score: 1

      I thought Vermont was defended by the Green Mountain Boys.

  89. Typical American by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you will just do what you have always done when your carriers get sunk in exercises. Change the rules and restart until you win.

  90. Lockheed is not what it used to be... by midifarm · · Score: 1

    The F-16 was a fine aircraft. The F-35 and F-22 have been nothing but disappointments. Neither have lived up to their billing. I think the insider bidding that Lockheed did in order to get those two contracts and the unfulfilled promises of their products should be reason enough to not only revoke the contracts, but they should pay the tax payers back (with interest) and they should be banned from future aviation contracts of this size for at least the next 3 projects. The amount of waste in military contracts and needless spending on hapless projects is insane. Wake up.

  91. What do expect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a fighter designed by a committee trying to please everyone

  92. Corporate Welfare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whenever I hear the word trillion and nothing to show for it, I think big time corporate welfare. The US government is a giant wealth transfer system, from taxpayers to the rich (who in general are not taxpayers).

  93. Science the shit by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 1

    The budget for this dwarfs even the most bloated estimate of a mission to Mars. Or a permanent moon base with a focus on research on possible space resources (water, metals, maybe even He3). Pie in the sky projects that have possibility of bearing fruit.

    I agree the article seems dodgy at best. But this is still precious dollars devoted to a dubious goal. On the other hand if I were a military hawk, I'd insist on advanced drone development with pilots sitting in a heavy-bomber sized mothership (I don't want a totally autonomous Skynet system).

  94. modern ideology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ah the modern whim worder graduate when everything is expected from everyone and everything it accels at absolutely nothing.

  95. who needs dogfights? by rch7 · · Score: 1

    It is well known, but it is not WWII anymore, who needs dogfights or fist fights when rocket launch distances can be hundreds of miles?

  96. Instead of spending all that money on a fighter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Instead of spending all that money on a fighter plane - you could give ti to Greece their need is great.

  97. Your tax dollars at work by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    This is US taxpayer dollars at work, but it may not be that bad, actually.

    US economy works through permanent Keynesian stimulus on military industry. Public money pored here irrigate the whole economy, even after profit has been made, since the thing is really big: US accounts for 50% of worldwide military expenses.

    The problem is that having huge military expenses means you have a huge military power, and the temptation to use it, which will make everyone in the world hate you. The F35 is a solution to this problem: big expenses, but no military power gained. This is a very clever move.

  98. Perspective by TheCreeep · · Score: 1

    Over 1 trillion dollars for a war toy that doesn't even work is astounding. For comparison that's 10 Apollo programs. I don't mean 10 rockets, I mean ten times the whole research, development and 17 missions. For that kind of money, we could have gone to Mars or solved cheap solar energy.

  99. $1 trillion and can't dog fight? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck it. We're at $1 trillion. What's a few hundred billion more?

    Okay, fine, one trillion gone and it can't fight dogs

    But I bet it can walk cats

    Can it? o0

  100. Studman69 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazing how many military techno-douches are on Slashdot tonight. Hint: guys, this isn't Flight Simulator. Now ask your mom for more hot pockets, plug back into WoW, and STFU.

  101. Canada by Chris+L.+Mason · · Score: 1

    Biggest waste of money in a long time. Besides what everyone else has already said, this is a useless plane for Canada, yet our goverment has been pursuing it for over 10 years. (Conservatives now, Liberals previously) In the arctic it helps to have a reliable aircraft. The old CF-18s have two engines so they can survive an engine failure, the new, wonderful F-35s have a single engine and don't work particularly well in cold temperatures. If the engine fails, you crash. So they suck for Canada, but I guess they are intended for use overseas, when we are helping the US to bomb miscellaneous countries. But apparently they suck for that too. Oh, and the software sucks, and we depend on the US to fix it.

    I say cancel the bloody project and give money to Canadian companies to produce our own plane. We have companies and people with the experience and skills to do this, and it might just create a few more jobs. We should have done this 20 years ago, but it's not too late. And when we finally get a good product, we owe no-one, and maybe, if they ask nice, we might sell them to the US. But we'll probably have too many orders from Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, so the US will have to wait. They do have a shady credit history after all.

  102. Bullshit by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 1

    The article is more than a little disingenuous. A more appropriate title would have been "The F35 multirole strike fighter can't dogfight against one of the greatest air superiority dog fighting planes every designed".

    The F22 is the competition for the F16. The F35 is the competition for the F18 Superhornet and the A10.

    No shit the F35 can't compete against the F16. It was never designed to.

    --
    while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    1. Re:Bullshit by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      > The F22 is the competition for the F16. The F35 is the competition for the F18 Superhornet and the A10.

      Not according to Lockeed Martin, and not according to the General Accounting Office of the US government.

      http://afcommission.whs.mil/pu...

      Both of them describe the F-35 as the planned replacement for the F-16.

    2. Re:Bullshit by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 1

      Ah, you're right. I had the F16 and F15 mixed up. whoops.

      --
      while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    3. Re:Bullshit by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      And the F-16, according to the pilots from many nations, is an outstanding aircraft. The F-22? I'm not an expert, but the new reports about that craft were similarly negative to those about the F-35. It's also being theoretically replaced by the "cheaper" F-35, and that's a sad claim given the cost of F-35's. And with no one else permitted to import them, the last was delivered to the US Air Force in 2012.

      This also belies the idea stated by another poster, that these "teething problems" are inevitable and can be worked out over time. The F-22 was cancelled for cost and safety reasons. As best I can tell from the reports, they never did completely resolve the oxygen supply problem that kept knocking out pilots and even killed Captain Jeffrey Haney.

  103. These stories always happen by kriston · · Score: 1

    These stories always happen during the adolescence of the development lifecycle of expensive airframes. It happened with the Osprey, the F-15, and even the F-16, arguably the most successful of the affordable fighters.

    The F-35 will evolve into a competent fighter as they always do. We really don't want different fighters for each branch of the military anymore.

    --

    Kriston

  104. F-22 Raptor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The F-22 has a bad rap because of its cost but it is hands down the best plane we have in a dog fight. The F-35 borrows a lot of tech from the F-22 but the costs are sunk in the F-22 program. F-35 has had a hell of a PR campaign and as a result is the favorite child in modern fighter planes despite the fact that the older brother is really the one you want with you in a dark alley.

  105. Yeah it's a good trick by aliquis · · Score: 1

    It's just trickery to keep the Chinese back.

    "Here. Look at our latest fighter plan plans! This is going to be the shit! Why don't you make a bunch of these suckers?"

  106. can't we be sneaky? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can someone sneak up behind the jerks who spent $1 trillion on this disaster and shoot them?

    $1 trillion feeds a lot of people.

  107. You can see visibility issues right in the picture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Look at the F-16 versus the F-35 canopy in the pictures. The F-16 puts the pilot in a dome-shaped canopy with a head position fairly high above the level of the fuselage. The view must be amazing, and they can easily turn around and see behind them. Compare to the F-35, where the canopy is almost flush with the fuselage behind it, and even if the pilot turns their head their view is probably partially blocked by the rest of the plane's body behind them. I'm sure this is probably done to reduce radar cross section, but at the cost of visibility. That's a design tradeoff that pays off if the stealth works, but doesn't in the midst of a dogfight. I guess the strategy is to hope an F-35 always engages at a distance and doesn't run out of missiles. That might actually work in most scenarios, because a dogfight these days is usually a last resort situation. But it would suck to be in that situation at a disadvantage.

  108. That helmet problem is devastating in air combat by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

    > The F-35 will evolve into a competent fighter as they always do.

    What makes you think this? While the existing investment is so large that many contractors and military don't dare let it fail, the numbers of design failures seem to be unusually large and more seem to be revealed as time goes on, without resolving the original problems. Some of the new problems seem to be due to attempted solutions of the old problems. (The lightning strike vulnerability seems to be due to fuel tank redesigns to handle the larger power plant, for example.)

    This is a common problem with "quantum leap" project designs. All the components have to work at the same time, almost perfectly, without opportunities to fundamentally evolve or refine the designs for specific targets. And this is what made the Space Shuttle such a problematic craft. It could do a very few things better than any other craft, but it could not _possibly_ live up to its expectations of cost, of safety, and of frequent flight. It just had too many complex, compromising kludges. And by effectively siphoning the national budget away from alternative craft for alternative missions, well, look at the current state of US manned spacecraft.

  109. Hardly news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone has known that the design is a failure for years. The politicians just don't cancel it, because it is a 'pork barrel' project.
    The aircraft will never be competitive with Russian and Chinese types. It hasn't got the payload to carry a powerful radar, the fuel volume to cool high power avionics, or the engine power to generate enough energy to drive a big radar. It will never get first look, first shot, or be able to compete in air combat. The fuel tanks explode when hit by small arms fire. It will only be useful as a recreational aircraft, for trained military pilots.

  110. And this is why we still have F-15E Strike Eagles by Tighe_L · · Score: 1

    The F-15 and F-16s are still viable fighters where the F-35 is a mess trying to be everything and the kitchen sink.

  111. if dogfighting in 2015, you've already lost by Imazalil · · Score: 1

    Does anyone actually expect to dogfight in this day and age? This isn't WW2 or Vietnam anymore, we have missiles, and lots of them.

    Either we're fighting someone with 20 to 40 year old tech (ie Iraq) and just pew pewing missiles at their planes from a good distance away, probably while they are still parked on the runway.

    Or if we're dealing with a real threat like Russia or China, then we'd just be using nukes or the biggest non-nuke missiles/rockets/bombs we have, again, trying to get the planes while on the ground. Moving in with real planes to clean up once we're pretty sure we knocked out 80+ % of their air capability. And then, missiles.

    -- I only play video games, not to be confused with real military strategy.

    1. Re:if dogfighting in 2015, you've already lost by Pherdnut · · Score: 1

      It's an argument that's been made before but didn't pan out in actual combat. Planes can only carry so many missiles. When it comes to the weight tradeoff, there's an awful lot you can do with a missile system's worth of gun. Things may have changed since IIRC, the 70s but I wouldn't be so sure they've changed enough. Missiles and stealth can potentially be countered and completely nullified. Line of sight weaponry, however less effective can't.

  112. VTOL isn't worth it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The F-35 has some impressive features but it just doesn't have the useful features to do the job they thought they where designing it for. I watched the development videos of the race between Boeing and Lockheed. Now after its been tested I don't think either won. The VTOL on the F-35B was a vast improvement over the Harrier. Sounds like all the features ditched to get there make the plane mostly useless. So what, if it can safely take off vertically, reach Mach speeds and land vertically. That would be great for a fast transport for a billionaire but lacking the maneuverability to adequately dog fight may cost it its job. Different dog fighting techniques may help but this isn't sounding good. It was way over budget and costs just keep rising. It claims stealth as well but I'm not sure how much good that does. The F-35 also looks impressive but looks are not everything.

  113. Tell us about "AlmostAllAdsBlocked+" Coren22 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & LMAO @ U, boy -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    FACT: "AlmostALLAdsBlocked+" is INFERIOR vs. hosts - hugely so!

    AB+ doesn't even DO what it's supposed to fully anymore being BRIBED http://finance.yahoo.com/news/... not to!

    AB+ doesn't do a FRACTION of what hosts do for more speed, security, reliability, + anonymity online!

    AB+ EATS 128mb of RAM (vs. hosts @ 11 *maybe* tops via my program with CURRENT data, the important kind vs. current threats + ads) http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte...

    AB+ adds messagepassing overheads!

    AB+ operates in SLOWER usermode (vs. hosts in PnP kernelmode)

    AB+ creates huge CPU consumption!

    AB+ is also detectable by clarityray (via native browser methods) nullifying it (not hosts).

    ---

    I use what you already have that works & does more with LESS, no less - you by way of comparison? Pile on "MoAr" that doesn't do as nearly as much & what it's supposed to do, massively inefficiently no less (see above)?

    Ab+ NO LONGER DOES!

    * AFTER ALL THAT?

    AB+ = "better", Coren22?? LMAO - NO f'ing way!

    If you say it is, you are *TRULY* stupid & I'd reply saying "argue with the numbers" & facts above, from reputable sources & analysis proving my points for me!

    APK

    P.S.=> Gonna go "cry in your cereal" now, boy?

    (You ought to for being STUPID enough to use OR SUGGEST a blatantly INFERIOR solution! See above - it's fact & truth via reputable sources)... apk

  114. Coren22: Questions 4u... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject, "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" - Can ab+ do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites/servers (past ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stops C&C communique
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stops C&C communique
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stops C&C communique
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (adds reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phish
    10.) Protect vs. caps
    11.) Get you past a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on anything webbound (ie email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily controlled data
    16.) Do all that & block ads more efficiently in cpu + memory usage vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on ab+ doing it or as well + hosts = already on every device natively.

    APK

    P.S.=> Ab+ does less than hosts & less efficiently - hosts do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    Ab+'s 128mb memory inefficiency -> http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte... (hosts consume 3-11mb using my program initially).

    +

    ClarityRay defeats it dumping addons in use in a browser via native browser methods to do so!

    +

    Ab+'s paid to not do its job http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ab+ adds complexity + slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    What's best?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    &

    It's GUARANTEED safe & clean per it being checked by 57 antivirus programs recently in BOTH its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    In its 32-bit model also https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    ... apk

  115. Coren22: Questions 4u... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject, "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" - Can ab+ do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites/servers (past ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stops C&C communique
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stops C&C communique
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stops C&C communique
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (adds reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phish
    10.) Protect vs. caps
    11.) Get you past a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on anything webbound (ie email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily controlled data
    16.) Do all that & block ads more efficiently in cpu + memory usage vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on ab+ doing it or as well + hosts = already on every device natively.

    APK

    P.S.=> Ab+ does less than hosts & less efficiently - hosts do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    Ab+'s 128mb memory inefficiency -> http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte... (hosts consume 3-11mb using my program initially).

    +

    ClarityRay defeats it dumping addons in use in a browser via native browser methods to do so!

    +

    Ab+'s paid to not do its job http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ab+ adds complexity + slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    What's best?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    &

    It's GUARANTEED safe & clean per it being checked by 57 antivirus programs recently in BOTH its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    In its 32-bit model also https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    ... apk

  116. Tell us about "AlmostAllAdsBlocked+" Coren22 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & LMAO @ U, boy -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    FACT: "AlmostALLAdsBlocked+" is INFERIOR vs. hosts - hugely so!

    AB+ doesn't even DO what it's supposed to fully anymore being BRIBED http://finance.yahoo.com/news/... not to!

    AB+ doesn't do a FRACTION of what hosts do for more speed, security, reliability, + anonymity online!

    AB+ EATS 128mb of RAM (vs. hosts @ 11 *maybe* tops via my program with CURRENT data, the important kind vs. current threats + ads) http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte...

    AB+ adds messagepassing overheads!

    AB+ operates in SLOWER usermode (vs. hosts in PnP kernelmode)

    AB+ creates huge CPU consumption!

    AB+ is also detectable by clarityray (via native browser methods) nullifying it (not hosts).

    ---

    I use what you already have that works & does more with LESS, no less - you by way of comparison? Pile on "MoAr" that doesn't do as nearly as much & what it's supposed to do, massively inefficiently no less (see above)?

    Ab+ NO LONGER DOES!

    * AFTER ALL THAT?

    AB+ = "better", Coren22?? LMAO - NO f'ing way!

    If you say it is, you are *TRULY* stupid & I'd reply saying "argue with the numbers" & facts above, from reputable sources & analysis proving my points for me!

    APK

    P.S.=> Gonna go "cry in your cereal" now, boy?

    (You ought to for being STUPID enough to use OR SUGGEST a blatantly INFERIOR solution! See above - it's fact & truth via reputable sources)... apk

  117. Re:Tell us about "AlmostAllAdsBlocked+" Coren22 by Coren22 · · Score: 1
    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  118. Re:Coren22: Questions 4u... apk by Coren22 · · Score: 1
    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  119. who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In other news, your Prius will not run on hay....

  120. Bad data by brunnegd · · Score: 1

    The F-35 is not built as a dogfighter, it is a ground pounder. Engaging enemy fighters is at most a secondary mission. The F-22 is designed to engage enemy aircraft. And the $1T number is old data, based upon assumptions already shown to not be valid. Plus, it is a lfetime projection for the aircraft, as long as 30 years or more of operation.

  121. Heat bomb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't need F-35.
    Just drop a "Heat bomb" in Antarctic Ice Sheets.
    You'll drown the world.

  122. meanwhile.... by Mr_Nitro · · Score: 1

    1 trillion is being wasted for useless military crap equipment, but we happily discarded the build of the OWL (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overwhelmingly_Large_Telescope) for 1.5bn......and countless other scientific projects... sad sad humanity.......

  123. "Eat your words" Coren22 & Run, Forrest: RUN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "1. No matter how much you post this I will not argue the point with you. You are wrong, and that is all I need to say." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @02:52PM (#50020571)

    Fact: There's no arguing w\ what I put up last post of mine you *FINALLY* got the balls up enough to respond to -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    (Fact: You CAN'T VALIDLY ARGUE W\ FACTS from REPUTABLE SOURCES THERE after all... lol!)

    ---

    "You do realize that what you are doing could be considered libel against AB+ don't you?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @02:52PM (#50020571)

    FACT: Facts != libel: You do realize you're wrong & you're NOT a lawyer, right? Apparently not, lol!

    Argue w/ facts in that link above I posted, & you can tell THEM that too, ok BOY???

    ---

    "Many of your claims are actually patently false as I have shown you in the past." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @02:52PM (#50020571)

    Oh, really? Where??

    Yet more lies from you, HOT AIR, but NO SUBSTANCE!

    (By way of comparison in myself? TONS of substance from reputable sources is in that link above... you RAN from it, "Forrest"... lol!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Fact: Coren22 = "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... - & THAT? Is TRULY, that...

    ... apk

  124. Eat your words Coren22 & Run, Forrest: RUN!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "1. No matter how much you post this I will not argue the point with you. You are wrong, and that is all I need to say." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @02:52PM (#50020571)

    Fact: There's no arguing w\ what I put up last post of mine you *FINALLY* got the balls up enough to respond to -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    (Fact: You CAN'T VALIDLY ARGUE W\ FACTS from REPUTABLE SOURCES THERE after all... lol!)

    ---

    "You do realize that what you are doing could be considered libel against AB+ don't you?" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @02:52PM (#50020571)

    FACT: Facts != libel: You do realize you're wrong & you're NOT a lawyer, right? Apparently not, lol!

    Argue w/ facts in that link above I posted, & you can tell THEM that too, ok BOY???

    ---

    "Many of your claims are actually patently false as I have shown you in the past." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @02:52PM (#50020571)

    Oh, really? Where??

    Yet more lies from you, HOT AIR, but NO SUBSTANCE!

    (By way of comparison in myself? TONS of substance from reputable sources is in that link above... you RAN from it, "Forrest"... lol!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Fact: Coren22 = "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... - & THAT? Is TRULY, that...

    ... apk

  125. I'm so pissed ... I can't even find words... by martinfb · · Score: 1

    Will the idiot culprits that allow this gross waste to happen PLEASE get their heads OUT of their asses?!?!?! A TRILLION dollars? Are you kidding?!?!?! I can think of LOTS of far more important needs that would be well served with a quarter of that! Education! Health Care! Social Security! Jobs! What good can come out of spending ridiculous amounts of valuable money and resources just to build killing machines?! What about upgrading F-16s for less money? And how about drone tech? Am I blind to something here? Am I naive? What am I missing here? Lockheed has swindled to get the project when Boeing had a much better plan. It made no sense that Lockheed got the contract in the first place. I say to lock-up the criminal creeps that cause these foopas! Get them OUT of a position with the control of these things.

    --


    Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
  126. Re:Coren22: Questions 4u... apk by SpinyManiac · · Score: 1

    Can Hosts dogfight? No? Then you're completely off topic in this discussion about the F-35.

    Take it to the proper place or drop it.

    --
    It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
  127. Funny by wheelsOh1 · · Score: 1

    LOL, the F-35 pilot is probably just pissed that he got splashed by an F-16. The fighter pilot community is an egotistic one, but that's what makes them the best.