US Air Force's F-22, F-35 stealth fighters devastated by mother nature and freak accidents



Not the best reporting, but oh well.

The military has been completely pozzed.

It's a shame they didn't have a way to almost immediately leave an area that was about to be severely damaged by weather with a few days worth of notice.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Thanks Comrade Trump!

Feel free to buy my new calendar.

I believe the only solution is to cut entitlements so we can devote more of the budget to our underfunded military.

But then they couldn't go to Congress and request replacement F-35's be ordered from their golf buddies at Lockheed Martin.

Great band.
Great album.

Just wait, some dipshits will blame this on the sequester, and therefore Obama. And MANY around here will agree.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

If true, this negligence has to be investigated, doesn’t it? I mean, that’s just moronic to not move those out of harm’s way.

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In this climate it's a lesser order screwup than Ray Nagin not having moved city school buses to higher ground pre-Katrina.

But investigations must be run.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

These aircraft are hangar queens that require countless hours of maintenance for just one hour of flight. You dont just turn the key on an F-35 or F-22 and take off. This is not some Q400 that your or I could keep airborne.

Now if you want to start asking yourself how practical these things are as supposed warplanes if they have these rigorous timetables that limit their use so strictly...well that's a good quesiton. MANY have been asking it for about 10 years now.

This is the problem when your $200 million a piece Gen 5 fighter is a hanger queen. Less than 50% of the F-22s are mission ready at any time. The rest are down for intensive maintenance and with an aircraft like this, it can take a week to get it ready where it is safe to even be ferried to another base if it is down for major work.

This is the reason why the Air Force doesn't even want to order more F-22s despite the fact Congress keeps saying they would appropriate for it. The Air Force knows having the best fighter in the world is meaningless if it can rare get airborne.

Edit: I see America correctly pointed out that this airframe is a notable hangar queen.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

There really isn't anything to investigate. The nature of the aircraft dictates that it will spend long periods down. Even amongst simpler fighters like the F-15 or F-16, you would be lucky to have 75% of the aircraft in a squadron airworthy at any particular time. That number drops significantly when you have the maintenance intensive F-22.

Here is a good rundown on the issue

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/24 ... ape-storms

This plane was designed for a different era, a late 1980s confrontation with the Soviet Union. It's the Air Force's equivalent of the Seawolf class submarine. Both are ultimately weapon systems that neither parent service really wanted by the time they became active as the world had changed and their mission was no longer needed. Both were ultimately followed-up by a multi-mission platform that better suited the 21st century. Those being the F-35 for the Air Force and the Virginia class submarine for the Navy. Neither is perfect, but both are better options for the world we live in than the F-22 or the Seawolf class submarine.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

It's corporate welfare.

If there is a major war and we need a lot of planes, they won't be making more f22s. They will make a bunch of much cheaper planes, that can be made much quicker.

The f22 is just a reason to keep tax money flowing in during down times.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

Frankly imo this should be criminal. At all levels.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

FAR SUPERIOR?

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wait so drumpf should go to jail because the planes they ordered literally decades ago cant be moved?

Imaginary reading strikes again.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

One of the reasons these aircraft do cost so much is how they select vendors for various components. It's all about who is located in what Congressional District who appropriates the funds rather than who can build the part most efficiently and with the highest level of quality.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I am not going to excuse military spending habits and other procurement problems but aren't airplanes pretty damn expensive to buils regardless? Commercial and private jets are big money too. So if you assume some sort of special military need and usually being on the leading edge of technology shouldn't it have to cost more?

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Elections have consequences.

The answers I have seen so far are much worse than "We were dumb and didn't move these planes out of the way of a hurricane". Maybe Bernie was right and we need to cut our military so we can give people stuff.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You just did.

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Not really.

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Elections have consequences.

I don't think that you understand.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

All I said was that planes are expensive. I know there is great government waste and other factors in spending and procurement for the military. What did I miss?

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Elections have consequences.

Planes are expensive, but the means in which the DoD goes about procurement do nothing to help address the high costs of the weapon systems.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

It's because the dumbest kids in high school go on to choose a career in the military.

The true welfare queens don't want THAT boat rocked

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Lockheed Martin a welfare queen... no... never...

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

update for the aviation geeks (I'm sure I'm not the only one here) but they got some of the F-22s that rode out the storm in flyable condition and sent them to Langley AFB for further repairs. I'd imagine those are primarily cosmetic repairs required, but important ones on the F-22 as it is the airframe skin and the paint that makes the F-22 the fighter with the world's lowest radar cross section.

https://theaviationist.com/2018/10/24/h ... e-michael/

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson