Re: f22, JSF, or F/A-18E&F ...hmmm, I'm not so sure!


Message posted by Magoo on March 18, 2001 at 14:13:11 PST:

Well, perhaps....!

Super Hornet is actually being agressively marketed to Australia and Canada at present (and Peru till recently when they bought F-16s). There's no quantum technology gain in the Super Hornet - it's just bigger really! If the F-22 goes ahead, it will be sold overseas eventually, albeit in a less advanced form perhaps - in fact, I'm sure the USAF would like every foreign sale it can get to help offset its own costs. Again, Australia, Canada and even the UK have been touted as possible buyers of a silver bullet force of (say) 30 or so aircraft.

In Australia's case, for example, several commentators have actively espoused the idea of buying a squadron or two of F-22s, and then extending the life of the existing F-111Cs and F/A-18A++s. The F-111C has recently been upgraded to the point where is is STILL the best low level tactical/strategic strike bomber IN THE WORLD, and the F/A-18s are currently being upgraded with new radios, radars, structural enhancements and weapons so that they may soldier on for another 15-20 years.

Obviously, this is not the ideal solution, but when you consider the cost of replacing these aircraft on a one-for-one basis these days, it's the next best thing!

On to JSF - I personally can't see a decision on JSF being based solely on whether other countries are involved, and besides, the UK are the only ones to have put up any 'real' money, and even that's only 10% of the cost so far. The other nations (Denmark, Holland, Belguim, Canada, Turkey) have only put up around 1% each with absolutley no guarantees of a sale being made down the track.

The other problem with JSF which I have been eluding to for over a year now, is that they have yet to demonstrate whether it will ever actually be able to perform its intended role(s). It has only flown in 'demonstration' mode so far, and then only for fairly basic handling tests by 'company' pilots.

This plane is meant to be all (well, most) things to all forces, and each one of those forces has had to make concessions in order that anothers need may be satisfied! It is yet to prove whether the advertised capabilities (and costs) can be maintained through the EMD and Initial LRP phases yet! My bet is that they probably wont...

I have actually written an article on the JSF, and would be happy to share this with anyone via email. Please email me for a copy if required. Hopefully, an abridged version of this article will be posted on this site soon.

Magoo


In Reply to: Re: f22, JSF, or F/A-18E&F ...hmmm, I'm not so sure! posted by Rocketfox on March 18, 2001 at 8:48:52 PST:

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