It is so fucking obvious that cheap drones controlled by fatties with joysticks can already do the job of overpriced fighter jets with pilots on board. This has ramifications for not just the air force but the navy, as the aircraft carrier will be as ridiculous as the battleship when missiles became standard. But efficient change always comes with a fight from the people in charge, who are in league with the entrenched military-industrial complex that benefits from the status quo.
when was the last time we were in a war against a military equal? You want to cut the defense spending because of crooked deals but I am assuming that you were all for obamacare.. you are being naive if you don't think there are perks for congress in that massive heap of shit. EDIT: oh and Iran actually has some f16's FT.. they are in bad repair but that is old tech at this point man.
I don't know the state of drone technology, but I know they can take G forces a human pilot can't stand. They can go on riskier missions. They are vulnerable to loss of communications I suppose, but so are piloted planes. I don't buy the idea that one F-22 is superior to 50 drones in a typical air superiority mission. It's the same concept as why our highly sophisticated naval ships are vulnerable to Iranian attacks. They can defeat any ships Iran sends out there, they can defend against sea skimming missiles, but what they can't defend 100% is 100 sea skimming missiles coming at them. I believe it was Stalin who observed that "quantity has a quality of its own."
I get your point AAA, and mostly agree with you. I know that at some sim event like red flag, the F-22 took on multiple opponents (f-15's) alone and won every time.. without being observed, by radar or by physical sight. Drones that can do that would have to cost a ton of money as well.
Im pretty sure the reason Noob trader started this thread was because of the piece on 60 minutes, on sunday, i just noticed it hadnt been posted here. Turns out the F22 Raptor has a faulty oxygen system, thats so bad that these guys are going outside the chain of command and saying they dont want to fly it anymore until it is fixed.... <embed src="http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf" scale="noscale" salign="lt" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" background="#333333" width="425" height="279" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" FlashVars="si=254&&contentValue=50124305&shareUrl=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7407680n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox" />