Yep. Not to pi$$ on anybody’s parade but “welcome to 1990”.
I think that sort of misses the point.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent financial crises – people were very dubious as to whether the necessary funds, technology and brains were there to create an aircraft such as the PAK-FA. 20 years after the YF-22 or not.
There was a conceit amongst certain people and groups, that Stealth was a technology only available to the United States. Read back over the threads if you have to.
It was in evidence right till the end. Was it founded or unfounded? Well let’s say it was at least up for debate.
This demonstration flight goes some way towards answering those charges.
I’m not interested in flame wars/nationalism. The US is clearly the master of Stealth technology, they are the pioneers and their military aviation industry is the world leader.
When the US replacement to the Shuttle takes off in 5-10 years, I’m sure someone can pithily say “Welcome to 1961”. But that, again, would miss the point, which is “we have the brains, we have the know how and we have the money to create something most of the world can’t even dream about… set us a task, give us the resources and we’ll do it.”
The Stealth challenge was put to the Russia, and I think they’ve gone a long way towards proving they can do it today. Obviously we’re a long way from operational status – and that’s going to be an interesting journey – but they’ve made a big first step.
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