[WLR]

We all want US Air Superiority.. The problem is the Air Force Flag Officers and Pilots want only the Pentultimate Fighters and Bombers. Further they use them to bomb a current crop of enemies which would be killed much more effectively with SkyRaiders and WartHogs..

Flying Billion Dollar Stealth Bombers 14,000 miles to bomb people living in mud huts and caves whose most sophisticated air grid at this time consists of a Mosquito Net over their Straw Cot..

Is Moronic at best in truth Malfeasant or worse.

Every time you see 3-4 flying Jihadis after a Hellfire or JDAM at $100k a pop plus the cost of the Aircraft realize that they are winning.. If there are only 3 Million active Jihadis (out of three billion) in the world.. we will be long broke at that rate before they are anywhere close to being dissuaded or defeated. W

[mbynack]

You're assuming that future wars will all be fought with people living in mud huts. The reason we can fly helos and warthogs in Iraq is because our F-15s and F-18s destroyed their air force in Desert Storm. People argue that the potential enemies don't have sophisticated aircraft. Enemy aircraft are only one of the threats faced by bombers and fighters. Almost every country in the world has access to modern anti aircraft defense systems. New SAMS have technologically caught up with the capabilities of the 36 year old design of the F-15 Eagle. Most people aren't even driving 36 year old cars, but you expect us to send our pilots into battle against modern aircraft and SAMS in airplanes older than most of the people flying them.

There is no such thing as a cheap air superiority fighter. They are some of the most sophisticated aircraft in the inventory. The equipment needs to withstand 10g turns, detect enemy fighters a hundred miles away, and be stealthy and agile. Each generation pushes the envelope of technology.

Two of our biggest threats right now are North Korea and Iran. North Korea has the technology of China behind it and Iran has been buying modern Russian planes and anti-aircraft systems.

The reason the Flag officers want the best aircraft that they can get is survivability. Our strategy doesn't count on sending waves of cheap aircraft and hoping a couple get through. We don't have a huge number of trained pilots to fly suicide missions against high value targets. Every one of the modern fighters and bombers we have has a crew of American servicemen on board. Their lives depend on the equipment they're flying. Stealth is expensive, but necessary if you want to see the airplanes come home.