Answer. Air Dominance.
If you're like me and you wonder why, then wonder no more. I believe Lt. General Pawlkowski let the cat out of the bag. Check this out from Military.com.
"We are going to be facing adversaries that are as modern as we are if not more so. This provides us the opportunity to leverage the entire world market of technology development through our collaborative activity with our allies," she said.We're seeing a slow burn to an obvious truth.
The effort, which includes work with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Pentagon's research arm, DARPA, is looking at a wide range of future applications including hypersonics, stealth, advanced sensors, cyber technologies, drones, space systems and directed energy weapons, Pawlikowski said.
"We're taking a more enterprising look at understanding and exploring the capabilities we are going to need in the future," she said. "It is not just looking at a next-generation fighter but looking at these issues in the context of leveraging all of the capabilities that can accomplish that."
The F-35 isn't close to being good enough and to paraphrase former Commandant of the Marine Corps, James Amos, "they've got one chance to get the next airplane right".
Maybe I'm reading too much into her statement but it also appears that the USAF is slowly "evolving" to the USN position that stealth isn't enough.
But the part that make me wonder is the highlighted portion..."facing adversaries as modern as we are if not more so"?
That should be a chilling statement for an airpower advocate. Why? Remember the Rand "Clubbing baby seals" report? I've wondered aloud what another such report would reveal today especially since F-35 advocates say that the plane is "reaching maturity" but we have yet to see it. Surely the USAF has had one conducted.
My bet. The news was horrible and they classified it.
The more we hear from the USAF, USN and the less we hear from the USMC convinces me of one thing.
A bad bet was placed, the alcohol is wearing off and people are just now beginning to tally up the financial losses.
The more we hear about a 6th gen jet the worse that sim must have been.
SIDNOTE: This is for my buddies over at F-16.net. The death spiral is here. I found this from a Rebecca Grant report on "maintaining air dominance in a fiscally constrained environment". The chart tells the tale.
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| Procurement plans for fifth-generation fighters declined by nearly 19 percent over the fifteen-year period....note that the decline has continued as it does not take into account the latest USN decision on F-35C purchases. |
