re: #178 jamesfirecat

Wouldn’t be surprised UAV’s cut down on American casualties and I hope that’s a concept we all can get behind.

Still 12 Million dollars a piece only sounds like a lot till you compare it to the 120 Million dollar F-22…

Yeah, that’s what I meant by pointing out the price. It’s 1/10th the price. The reality is that the DoD has to focus and fund for the current military task which we have undertaken which is the war on terror. That means all unneeded projects will either be canceled or sidelined.

The F-22 will be operational for a long time anyway. In the future the F-35 will come on line and then after a period they will all be replaced by UAVs. They don’t need 70,000 lbs. of thrust to deliver lower yield ordinance on a small group of Taliban. Ground forces also prefer something around with a much longer loiter time.

Strategically we’re fine with our current line-up of F-15s, 16s, 18s, and 22s. Then we have the B-1, B-2 and the reliable old B-52.