Putin says T-50 trumps F-22

Funny - I used to be a manager of Electrical System development and you would think I was a Nazi when I attempted to reduce unique designs in the electrical systems - Most engineers think their answer is the best and everyone else's designs suck. One example was nylon standoffs - the manufacturer would sell something like 175 designs - I was striving to reduce our use down to about 20-25. I remember one engineer saying: "give me a break, these things are less than $2 each." My response was, "Not if the plan's delivery meant that there was a Engineering Order to use one of the other 175 parts!" Then the price of the part went to $5,002 dollars!

 

Looks like they just took a MiG-29 and updated the body panels.

 

Putin: "Our plane that doesn't exist yet will be better than the one the US already has in service."

Everyone else: "That's nice."

 

(Since we decided not to actually build any operational F-22s I'd say Putin iis right.)

Excuse me but i happen to work for the company that builds the F-22
the aircraft is already operational

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor

 

The ROE of that exercise severely limited the F-15's true capabilities and the overall aerial warfare doctrine that we would implement in combat. Had it been a no-holds-barred fight with equal numbers, you would have seen a different outcome. That fight was skewed, and most will acknowledge that fact.

Now, the equipment they, and others are flying are awesome airplanes..and should serve as a wake-up call to the US. The USAF is parking nearly 250 fighters over the next couple years which will limit our capes in the unlikely event of an all out airborne battle.

The F-22 is operational...and we have a whopping 187 of them.

 

And will not have any more, thanks to its status as the most expensive and maintenance-heavy warplane in history.

Some people say that's to be expected when using cutting edge technology, but some of the shit that's trickled out about F-22 problems points to shitty engineering an QC by Lockheed. How true are those stories? Who knows, but the costs to run the F-22 are astronomical either way.

If I were DoD, I'd be looking for another contractor to do another ground up design.

 

There will be no more than 187..unless congress gives us some more money.

As for a new design..not that easy. It took nearly two decades to design the thing...and it still has issues. It is one complicated mofo!! By comparison, from chicken scratch on a napkin and prototype flight, the P-51 was conceived and flown for the first time in about 180 days and went on to be the deciding factor of aerial warfare in Europe. And by all standards, it is a GORGEOUS airplane. I have about 10 hours of P-51 time and it was nearly orgasmic. Complicated for its time...but we were still able to pull it off.

 

OPSEC, i don't think it is a good idea to be talking about numbers on an online forum.

 

Yes, we certainly wouldn't want public information to be available to the public

 

To keep Lockheed going. They do get the cast majority of their revenue from government contracts.

If China and Russia want to destroy us, they'll do it economically, not militarily. They have all the tools they need to do that already. The brilliance of our evil foreign/economic policy over the past 3 decades is that if they kick us, they'll hurt just as much. China perhaps cares less, but it's still a reality they'll have to face.

Nail on the head. Rep for you.