Another "praise the Raptor" article

[Kycntryboy]

theoretical tangent continued ...Just in terms of liability, I don't understand where it goes with this technology. Us flying = Us responsible, Current autonomous vessels, when somebody f'd up the 101010 = programmers, but living, free-thinking brain cells? Who would be responsible for a bad decision... I just don't think this technology is feasible/applicable for any relevant mission that the military does.

 

[kejo]

This is suspicously similar to how they controlled the bad robot in Robocop 2.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Thread revival. The pointy nose guys want to give the rest of us an opinion if this is a good idea or not? There was some interesting discussion as I read through this - and a few guys said stopping production early on the F-22 was a bad idea.

The Stealth F-22 Raptor Is One of the World's Best Fighter Jets (And America Needs to Build More)

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/th...ministration-should-restart-f-22-raptor-18587

 

[Hopeful Hoya]

From what I've read the whole idea of being able to easily re-start production isn't necessarily true, because a couple of years ago some techs needed to rebuild a part for a F-22 and when they went to the crates where the tooling and instructions were supposed to be it wasn't there.

 

[armada1651]

No meaningful discussion on this can really be had at the unclassified level. Hell, even at the secret level.

 

[Flash]

From what I've read the whole idea of being able to easily re-start production isn't necessarily true, because a couple of years ago some techs needed to rebuild a part for a F-22 and when they went to the crates where the tooling and instructions were supposed to be it wasn't there.

Someone I know involved in USAF programs said something similar, even with all the trouble they went through with preserving the production capability apparently things didn't happen like they were supposed to.

Sort of odd the author doesn't mention he is an Aussie, retired RAAF O-6 in fact.

 

[Skywalker]

From what I've read the whole idea of being able to easily re-start production isn't necessarily true, because a couple of years ago some techs needed to rebuild a part for a F-22 and when they went to the crates where the tooling and instructions were supposed to be it wasn't there.

Not only tragic, but not a new phenomenon. A physics professor at my university was a fly on the wall for the Apollo project, and at its close all of the blueprints and engineering notes were archived and then purged. Not to keep that information out of the hands of the Soviets, but because the corporate entities involved believed it would never be needed or wanted again.

 

[HackerF15E]

Even with original engineering data and tooling intact and in one location, the loss of the corporate knowledge -- the human factor -- of the production process is the one thing it takes the most time/effort/money to replace.

If this were a machine shop, and we were producing something like AR-15 BCGs, it would be easy to re-start production years later.

 

[BigBadBoJenkins]

If money were no option, the smart thing to do would be to continue producing them. Unfortunately, money is a real consideration, and the F-35 program can't really allow any competition for dollars.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Is the Air Force going to retire the F-22 early? I haven’t heard that before.

Flying to the Little Big Horn?

Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, the General who won against overwhelming odds in one of the most important fights in the Battle of Gettysburg, led the 7th Cavalry to

www.realcleardefense.com

 

[Python]

Is the Air Force going to retire the F-22 early? I haven’t heard that before.

Flying to the Little Big Horn?

Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, the General who won against overwhelming odds in one of the most important fights in the Battle of Gettysburg, led the 7th Cavalry to

www.realcleardefense.com

Yes the announcement was made at least a few months ago that the Air Force would like to retire it early. Not sure if anything firm has happened since.

 

[Flash]

Is the Air Force going to retire the F-22 early? I haven’t heard that before.

Flying to the Little Big Horn?

Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, the General who won against overwhelming odds in one of the most important fights in the Battle of Gettysburg, led the 7th Cavalry to

www.realcleardefense.com

When exactly is 'early'?

Yes the announcement was made at least a few months ago that the Air Force would like to retire it early. Not sure if anything firm has happened since.

There's been lots of bright ideas from the USAF about what airframes they want to retire 'early', some good but others not so much. Either way Congress and the President have the final say and plenty of airframes the USAF would have liked to retire at one time or another the past few decades are still flying.

 

[Python]

I think the discussion was to sunset around 2030ish.

 

[Pags]

Is the Air Force going to retire the F-22 early? I haven’t heard that before.

Flying to the Little Big Horn?

Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, the General who won against overwhelming odds in one of the most important fights in the Battle of Gettysburg, led the 7th Cavalry to

www.realcleardefense.com

Sounds like the USAF equivalent of going to 10 carriers, ie political Kabuki theater.

 

[Griz882]

Is the Air Force going to retire the F-22 early? I haven’t heard that before.

Flying to the Little Big Horn?

Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, the General who won against overwhelming odds in one of the most important fights in the Battle of Gettysburg, led the 7th Cavalry to

www.realcleardefense.com

Having read the article I do find it funny that the AF (seems) so very stuck on the F-15. It is like the Navy keeping F-8’s because they are cool, and hey, just hang another sensor on the wings! My understanding from folks I know working close to the political power pellet is that the A10 is only kept alive by a few strong political hands in halls of Congress.