Comments on: And There Was Much Rejoicing

By: b2

b2 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:31:54 +0000

That’s about right Casey…Surprising I get very little pushback on my opinions, eh?

re Bou’s “Wonder what the contingency plan is if the F-35 doesn’t actually happen.”

That is Naval Aviation’s red herring and the leadership must know it. Perhaps Lex’s prior post with the N-G UCAV will be the future…What do you think? LOL. The only option they have to “have a bird in the hand” is to buy more Hornets..Superhornets and more SuperHornet tankers…it’s a “Tarbaby”. Meanwhile, the anti-big deck carrier crowd hover like buzzards.

This is big. Short-term fixes and gimmicky business solutions will not solve the root problem.

By: Casey

Casey — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:23:46 +0000

I thought the Hornet tankers were fighters assigned to tanker duty?

By: b2

b2 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:11:33 +0000

We have another choice given F-35 dilemma? Duh. I thought not.

I will point out for the 101st time in here (a Centurion!) that even IF you could get ‘em for $50 mil a copy what you are really paying is about $80 mil a copy for a StrikeFighter (empasis on mission).

How’s that B2?

Because 25-35% of them will do nothing else at sea except “serve” as overhead (launch & recovery) tankers (not mission tanking-don’t let ‘em fool ya). While doing that they ain’t nothing more than powerful-looking gas stations that have ZERO war fighting capability. Remember that video Lex had up a couple weeks back about the carrier and the pitching deck with all them Hornets having trouble getting aboard? Ask- how many were tankers?

Not a fighter expert, based on the above I would humbly submit my personal analysis that buying new SuperHornets fill a “gap” but only on a real ratio of .6-.7 to 1.0. But of course, that has been the case in a progressive fashion since early 2004 with the first all Hornet airwing deployment. It’ll get slightly worse with Growler.

Also let’s not forget the cost to structurally upgrade the existing Hornets (legacy & super) to reach new service life requirements. Don’t forget that money…An expensive “Enterprise”, ain’t it? LOL. (cynically).

“The more Hornets you have the more Hornet tankers you need”. Almost Malthusian, eh? Go Boeing! Hornets forever! Fill that trough.

Unfortunetly Naval Aviation doesn’t have a choice but to buy more Hornets. Painted themselves right into a corner…

By: Bou

Bou — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:59:59 +0000

To cover the USN’s fighter gap until the F-35 is available?

I’m not even sure where I’d begin with that whole thought process. Wonder what the contingency plan is if the F-35 doesn’t actually happen.

By: Lou

Lou — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:59:24 +0000

So, if $50M is a bargain, what is the MSRP for a F-18?

By: steveH

steveH — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:13:29 +0000

Three cheers for Orville and Wilbur.

I just realized today that my paternal grandmother, who raised me and my two sisters, would have been 106 years old now.

The changes she saw from her childhood years in Indian Territory (before it became Oklahoma), to seeing men walk on the moon a few years before she passed away…