Be nice if the USAF end of JSF was reduced or totally eliminated. USN I can see needs some. USMC ? Sometimes I wonder.
The reason I say this about USAF is that they should leap ahead and put more stress on X-45 X-47 UCAV work. As it is now, USAF will have in the near future, numbers of JASSM, and JASSM-ER, B-2, F-22, combined with all the other nasty all weather PGMs, I just don’t see a need to use “new” technology and continue the old cycle of manned strike / sustainment costs for years on this including the nutty idea of replacing the F-16 on almost a 1:1 basis. Yes manned airpower will still be around. I just think for USAF, that a little more look at how sustainment costs over the long haul for lots of manned platforms for something like JSF…. $$$. For USAF, not having JSF would put more funds in the pocket to get the F-22 numbers up a bit more and spend money on other non-sexy things like some kind of transformation / restructering of tankers etc. that made $$$ sense. USAF without the JSF and more stress on X-45, X-47 type of UCAV, including all the other goodies is plenty of force. Especially if Iraq is our last “big” look at expeditionary warfare, which I think by now the politicians have had their fill. In the long run it is cheaper to sustain a bunch of UCAVs stored in boxes than it is a 30 year program of manned strike jets and all the $$$ over years that involves.
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