Message posted by Magoo on March 18, 2001 at 2:13:48 PST:
Spook That surprises me! I'm not questioning your assesment, but I would have thought the JSF would be the first to go, being the least mature platform, and the one that will the hardest to make work as advertised! The F/A-18E/F and F-22 have already proven their credentials (granted, in theory), and the F/A-18E/F has already entered low-rate production and been given the go-ahead, with the F-22 about a year or two away! The JSF, however, is still 3-4 years away from even a low-rate production decision! I would have thought the 'least' politically sensitive decision would be that of the JSF, and would also give the DoD the longest lead time to come up with an 'alternative'. Lets look at the (known = white/grey world) alternatives for the F-22 and F/A-18E/F.... ... Not a long list really! The thought of soldiering on in the F-15 (a wonderful jet but as big as a barn on radar) for another 15 years at least wouldn't be terribly appealing to the 1st TFW! They need the F-22 now, even if it is only to be used as a 'silver bullet' to clear the way for the F-15s and F-16s! Similarly, the F/A-18C/D can't even reach Iraq from a carrier in the southern end of the Persian Gulf, and if its mission is aborted, it has to dump it's load to be able to RTB! The 'Super Hornet' isn't everything the navy wanted, but it's all it has for now. Rumours persist of a new navy 'platform' being tested out of TTR and over the Pacific Ranges, however these are only rumours and could be anything at this stage! I agree there are also no alternatives for the JSF around at present, but the thing isn't due to enter service till 2008/9 at the earliest, leaving a much smaller time frame in which it's users will be 'without'! I know this line of conversation isn't stricltly Groom Lake related, however, many of thse aircraft we are discussing may well be seen around the Nellis ranges in the next few years, and possibly even flown against some of the 'unfriendly' radar systems located in the back-gate area. Magoo
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In Reply to: Re: f22, JSF, or F/A-18E&F ---- BYE BYE Birdies posted by Spooky_Dogg on March 15, 2001 at 20:33:18 PST:
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