[ArrogantBustard]

BTW, to expand on my #62: I'm not a fighter pilot, or an aeronautical engineer. Fighters are outside my professional expertise.

So, maybe we haven't yet reached the "better replace 'em now or we're screwed" point with the early F15s.

Maybe.

I wouldn't know for sure.

But when one disintegrates during routine operations, because a major structural part catastrophically failed due to being worn out, and the entire fleet gets grounded for weeks, you gotta start asking questions.

And yes, a real solution will cost a lot more than the next band-aid. It's always that way.

Sometimes, you can't afford NOT to go for the real solution.

[mbynack]

I think you hit the nail on the head AB. The key to this discussion is "What are the consequences of the decision?" If we buy the F22s we'll have the best Air to Air fighter in the world, but may not need it. If we keep the F-15s and end up in a war with China, we won't have air superiority and our ground troops will be bombed at will and our bombers will get shot down before they can reach their target.

Instead of arguing about buying the F-15 or the F-22, the question should be whether congress ought to be wasting our tax dollars on peanut storage facilities and hippie museums instead of giving our military the best tools available to defend the country.

[driftdiver]

“But when one disintegrates during routine operations, because a major structural part catastrophically failed due to being worn out, and the entire fleet gets grounded for weeks, you gotta start asking questions.”

Sure, and notice the E models are fying.

“Sometimes, you can’t afford NOT to go for the real solution.”

The ‘real’ solution may not involve $90-141 million per copy planes that are good for 10 years.

[SJSAMPLE]

Exactly.

We seen this in every industry/field.

You review the current tool (software, hardware, aircraft) every year, and every year you realize that it’s failing, but you don’t have the budget.

So, you put a band-aid on it and vow to revisit the idea the next year. The next year arrives and you’re stuck with the same decision.

The F-15C is already outdated technologically and structurally. We can’t push the replacement back any farther because we’re now in the “come as you are” state of warfare. We won’t be re-opening Willow Run to produce B-24s by the thousands. We’ll be flying exactly the aircraft that are operational on day one.