Another "praise the Raptor" article

[HeyJoe]

Very true. I'd be interested to see how many non-combat crashes the UAVs have had in recent years. Something tells me it is more than meets the eye.

You asked for it (as of 1 Jul 09), USAF has lost 75 aircraft from all causes in contingency ops since 9/11

1 A-10A
2 B-1B
1 B-2A
1 C-5B
1 C-130H
1 F-15E
5 F-16
2 HH-60G
2 MC-130H
1 MC-130P
6 MH-53
1 MQ-9 Reaper
2 RQ-4 Global Hawk
1 U-2
and drum roll if you please.....48 RQ/MQ-1 Predators

The losses due to direct contact with threat:

1 A-10A
1 F-16
1 MH-53
4 RQ/MQ-1 Predators

 

[Lawman]

and drum roll if you please.....48 RQ/MQ-1 Predators

The losses due to direct contact with threat:

1 A-10A
1 F-16
1 MH-53
4 RQ/MQ-1 Predators

Hmm... UAV's flown by rated aviators crashing at a rate of almost 1 every 7 days...

Yeah lets make them faster and more expensive and strap more stuff too it. That'll work out well.

 

[lmnop]

Hmm... UAV's flown by rated aviators crashing at a rate of almost 1 every 7 days...

Maths isn't my strongest subject, but I think it's more like every 56 days.

 

[bert]

Hmm... UAV's flown by rated aviators crashing at a rate of almost 1 every 7 days...

Yeah lets make them faster and more expensive and strap more stuff too it. That'll work out well.

There is a lot more to it than the bare statistics. UAS's of all stripes have had horrible mishap rates (especially in the first couple years of a system's life), but for years they were simply not a big deal to anybody. It wasn't until about 4 years ago (maybe HJ can double check my date) that these mishaps started receiving the attention their $$$ cost deserved. For too long the services simply acted like a crashed UAS was no big deal since there was no loss of life. For a long time nobody was even looking at the crash rates.

Once the demand for the systems became greater than the availability, and the service chiefs actually started feeling the financial pain of human-factor related crashes, the issue began receiving the attention it deserved.

 

[Lawman]

Maths isn't my strongest subject, but I think it's more like every 56 days.

Ill go get my E6-B and slit my wrists with it...

Oh damn it now somebodys gonna see that and we'll have another Battalion Suicide Awareness day.

 

[Krafty1]

The Senate set a firm budget and it seems and the F-22 money will be halted and invested elsewhere as planned.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090721/ap_on_go_co/us_defense_spending

 

[OUSOONER]

Looks like the F-35 will be getting a shot in the arm.

 

[armada1651]

Looks like the F-35 will be getting a shot in the arm.

Granted I'm no expert on this subject, but wasn't this the main idea of canning the F-22 - that the AF's investment in the Raptor was an obstacle to the Lightning II project that the other branches (especially the Marine Corps) couldn't afford?

 

[HeyJoe]

The Senate set a firm budget and it seems and the F-22 money will be halted and invested elsewhere as planned.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090721/ap_on_go_co/us_defense_spending

It ain't over until it's over. Senate and House each vote on respective Defense Authorization and Appropriation Bills worked up by Committees. Differences between House and Senate versions get worked out in respective House/Senate Authorization and Appropriation Conferences. President only plays (except to lobby) when presented the final Authorization and Appropriation Bills. If he exercised a Veto, even that can be overturned so this is only one round in a multi-round bout.

 

[OUSOONER]

It ain't over until it's over. Senate and House each vote on respective Defense Authorization and Appropriation Bills worked up by Committees. Differences between House and Senate versions get worked out in respective House/Senate Authorization and Appropriation Conferences. President only plays (except to lobby) when presented the final Authorization and Appropriation Bills. If he exercised a Veto, even that can be overturned so this is only one round in a multi-round bout.

Well either way, it's nice to see POTUS trying to give us some love instead of saying neither us or USAF should get the money and it go towards a squirrel mating habitat or something.

 

[Swanee]

Granted I'm no expert on this subject, but wasn't this the main idea of canning the F-22 - that the AF's investment in the Raptor was an obstacle to the Lightning II project that the other branches (especially the Marine Corps) couldn't afford?

Do you really think that all the money not spent on the F-22 will be spent on the F-35....

With all the cuts, when the F-35 starts really coming on line I seriously doubt we will get all 2443 (between all three services) that are planned for right now...

Senator X,"Hey, we are making do with less F-22s. That means we can make do with less F-35s!"

 

[OUSOONER]

Do you really think that all the money not spent on the F-22 will be spent on the F-35....

With all the cuts, when the F-35 starts really coming on line I seriously doubt we will get all 2443 (between all three services) that are planned for right now...

Senator X,"Hey, we are making do with less F-22s. That means we can make do with less F-35s!"

True, but I thought our willingness to do the IA's early on and the USAF not wanting to play that game really gave us a leg up when it came to scrutinizing the Defense budget.

 

[eddie]

So I guess the Senate vote is in...

 

[efini_kid]

i saw on fox news that Congress has decided to cut $2 billion out of the budget and also cut the total order by 7 f22's.

 

[HeyJoe]

i saw on fox news that Congress has decided to cut $2 billion out of the budget and also cut the total order by 7 f22's.

Suggest you listen to next repeat cycle of news as "Congress" has not decided as of yet. Read the earlier posts. It was the Senate and part of annual Congressional Budget process. To follow action, you need to keep track of what the Appropriations and Authorization Committees do and propose for floor votes in House and Senate and the Conferences that work out the differences before full floor votes. So you'll hear splashy news like F-22 being plussed up (last week) in one chamber or Committee and then slashed in a corresponding House of Committee. It's still mid-game and half-time is about to begin (August) followed by home stretch in September to put the 2 bills on the President's desk hopefully NLT 30 Sept.