We don't need any more bombers. The whole latest generation of aircraft across all services have been nothing more than giant boondoggles of pork and missed deliverables.
You know what should replace the F-16? The F-16, incorporating whatever improvements in avionics and materials that make sense. You know what should replace the A-10? Same thing.
They're doing this with the latest Herky Bird.
The Lockheed Martin C-130J "Super" Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The Hercules family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. During more than 50 years of service, the family has participated in military, civilian, and humanitarian aid operations. The Hercules has outlived several planned successor designs, most notably the Advanced Medium STOL Transport contestants. Fifteen nations have placed orders for a total of 300 C-130Js, of which 250 aircraft have been delivered as of February 2012.[5]
We're in a goddamn arms race against ourselves. Nobody else has a plane that can touch the F-15. Oh, we have an F-22, a plane that's killing its pilots because evidently we've forgotten how to make goddamn fucking oxygen bottles, a technology that was perfected back in WWII. Pilots passing out from lack of air? Seriously? Next you'll tell me we can't even make tires that don't explode on landing.
Besides, if you only have a limited number of gold-plated wunderplanes, you can only lose a couple before you no longer have a credible air force. With a quick googling I see as of 2012: “The F-22 inventory is 123 combat-coded, 27 training, 16 test, and 20 attrition reserve. The incident at Tyndall was a training aircraft which brought the number down from 28. There are currently 186 total.” Just in terms of F-15's we have 132 F-15E TOTAL and 342 F-15A/C TOTAL with 100 in storage.
A strong defense is a sensible notion. A military-industrial complex is a bad idea and more dangerous to our democracy and way of life than any imaginary foreign invader.
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