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The US Air Force has requested funding for a low-cost fighter experiment in its supplemental budget request, indicating the service is serious about finding a close air support alternative.
During a 23 February speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, USAF chief Gen David Goldfein told the audience the experiment would not cost much money. In January, Goldfein said the USAF would run an experiment in the spring assessing off-the-shelf options to fill a low-end fighter role.
The experiment would continue a previous US Special Operations Command effort known as Combat Dragon II, which demonstrated whether the Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco could be fielded in counter-insurgency operations over Afghanistan. NASA loaned two North American Rockwell OV-10G+to SOCOM in 2013 and the US Navy outfitted with them with a digital cockpit and laser-guided precision weapons.
originally posted by: muSSang
I hope so, cheap simplier aircraft that are reliable and can be mass produced is what wins war. Not Superior tech. Look at the German Me262 and look at Vietnam. Number win everytime. The F35 is a great product of engineering but it wont win wars.
The ruggered versatility of the CDII is its biggest strenght still to this day being a kitted-up light aircraft to support ground troops from quickly prepared airfields.
Its revealed the next generation stealth jet won’t be allowed to fire its gun until 2019
In ‘stealth’ mode, the F-35 can carry only two bombs and two anti-aircraft missiles. Its potentially equally sneaky opponents appear to be able to carry up to eight.
China and Russia are also pressing ahead with their 5th Generation fighter programs. Russia states it will have no less than 55 new T-50 stealth fighters operational by 2020. They’re also not limited by building only one airframe: China is working on no less than four designs.
This initial certification will be for Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and Advanced Air to Air Missiles (AMRAAM). At Block 3, it will be certified for the remainder of SDD weapons to include Small Diameter Bombs (SDB). It can carry up to eight small diameter bombs internally. SDB II will be the first weapon re-configured for 5th Generation aircraft.
it can't fit a full load of Small Diameter Bomb IIs in its weapons bay. What's worse is that even though the USMC will declare the F-35B operational this year, it won't be until 2022 that the problem will hopefully be fixed.
originally posted by: jellyrev
numbers don't beat tech. force multipliers vs force multipliers.
10,000 me-262 would get whooped by 1,000 f-22's, with minimal casualties to the f-22's.
Today's wars are won and lost in politics. The US military places various rules on itself to stay politically correct and follow the geneva convention.
If the US faced total war against north vietmanese or iraq or the taliban their whole populations would cease to exist. The
In the modern world we use tech to minimize collateral damage instead of being a force multiplier.
Against other major powers, the force multiplier is a deterrent against each other. War would be much different against a major power when the threat to the homeland is real.
In a war against china or russia american reporters won't be on balconies reporting live about the presidents palace getting bombed a mile away.