US To Sell F-22s To Allies

[epic!]

what ever happened the Army's RAH-66 Comanche? havent heard anything about it in quite a long time

 

[epic!]

nevermind, just read it got cancelled. sucks, that thing seemed pretty cool

 

[lowtimedriver]

Still can't believe that Northorp got hosed on the F-20 and then on the YF-23. If the USAF went with the 23, it would have been operational by now and would have saved the government billions. I still can't believe that the F-22 isn't fully operational. The 22 is a pile.

 

[XShipRider]

Still can't believe that Northorp got hosed on the F-20 and then on the YF-23. If the USAF went with the 23, it would have been operational by now and would have saved the government billions. I still can't believe that the F-22 isn't fully operational. The 22 is a pile.

I may be wrong since I'm recalling from items I read oh so many years ago.
Both my brain cells were drowning in gin at the time so the details may be
somewhat askew. But, both cells firing now, the F-20 Tigershark had a
better "cold start to wheels up" time than the F-16. It lost because the
F-20 used a modified F-5 airframe, something the USAF didn't want. It also
had an improved single engine versus the F-5's dual engine config' and the
avionics had been upgraded.

I'm sure politics played a major factor in the demise of Northrop. Reagan's
cabinet okayed selling, licensing and building the more advanced F-16 to
NATO countries and other allies.

The USAF wasn't interested in the old, recycled technology of the F-20. Other
countries didn't want the F-20 because the USAF wasn't buying it. This pretty
much sealed the fate of the whole program.

And one other tidbit, the F-20 was designed and produced without government
funding. So Northrop took a bath when the USAF went with the Falcon.

You have to figure careers were being made guiding the F-16 development
program to fruition.

 

[Gorilla]

America has shown over and over that it would rather spend money than blood when it comes to hardware. Technology is expensive. The F20 was cheap, easy to maintain, and could be bought in large numbers. It also would get its ass kicked by a more advanced fighter.

I mentioned this once before, but the common statement that "It's the man, not the machine" is simply false. When we (very experienced air to air instructors) deployed in T-38's to support the Luke F-16 RTU, noob students in the viper kicked our asses... it was a bloodbath. Richard Bong, if he had flown a Sopwith camel instead of a P-38 in WW2 against the Japanese Zeros would have died, quickly.

The F-22 has teething problems, but it is an awesome platform. 2 V 8 against Weapon's School F-15's was a slaughter. All the Eagles died, over and over.

If our hardware acquisition people want to promote quantity over quality, then do so, but don't pretend that the F-20, or any other low tech fighter, is the equivalent of a more modern machine like a 15, 16, or 22.

 

[SIG600]

The F-22 has teething problems, but it is an awesome platform. 2 V 8 against Weapon's School F-15's was a slaughter. All the Eagles died, over and over.

After reading some of the classified details of Cope India (as mentioned in other threads) I'm convinced the Air Force needs to fight tooth and nail for full funding of this thing. I think Magnum said it best... we don't want a fair fight.

 

[414Flyer]

I can say I have been head to head against an Indian Air Force SU-30MKI . I think they were just screwing with me, I saw a flight of 3 at my 11 high, they turned in on me, descended, with one going under me, then the other 2 off my right wing.

India has done a lot to modernize over the last 10 year. Not just hardware, but learning tactics and being flexible in the air, which is something they did not have before when under Soviet tactics. Now with their Su-30MKI, they have a plane that can outlast, outfly and outgun most other planes in the world.

As for the Intruder and Tomcat, USN would probably be better off if they had the Tomcat 21 upgrade, and had acquired the A-6F. F/A-18E tried to do everything, and ends up with a degree of mediocity in it all.

 

[SIG600]

As for the Intruder and Tomcat, USN would probably be better off if they had the Tomcat 21 upgrade, and had acquired the A-6F. F/A-18E tried to do everything, and ends up with a degree of mediocity in it all.

That can be said about a lot of planes, not just the Superhornet. You can be good at a lot of things, or great at one thing. And the Navy didn't kill the Tomcat, the SECDEF at the time did. I don't think however a new generation 'Cat is the answer either.