I’m curious why the USAF doesn’t acquire the Growler? Surely it would come in useful accompanying strike packages and enhancing the efficiency of legacy and even stealth aircraft.:confused:

One thing I noticed is that their estimates of the F-35 RCS seem to be quite a bit off from what’s floating around the intenet. Maybe the russians are making assumptions based on the F-117 wreckage the Serbs gave them. Maybe its wishful thinking on their part.:D

Here’s the current Syrian SAM site map. The new SA-2 range ring should be obvious.

Now I can see why Israel wanted the Raptor so badly. Anyone willing to speculate how the F-22 would fare against these defenses?

Remember all the criticisms leveled against the Raptor during its development and early testing? These have all but disappeared now that the jet has had enough flight time to prove itself. The F-35 will have to go thru the same route to quiet its critics. Personally, I think its going to be a landmark jet.

The AF is playing this conservatively and all the hypersonic and really exotic stuff probably won’t be ready by 2018.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/06/12/214539/speed-bump-usaf-sets-modest-goals-for-new-bomber.html

I have a sneaky suspicion that this development may be part of a Boeing strategy to regain its position as the dominant plane builder by by being the first in the new paradigm and dealing a crippling blow to the competition at the same time. The 747-800 IMO is a stopgap to hold the fort vs the A380, sapping its sales until the BWB makes its entrance. The troubles the A380 is experiencing could not have been foreseen but they definitely work to Boeing’s advantage. In the meantime. Boeing leverages what it learned/is learning specially from the 787 plus its formidable technical resources and bring these to bear to make the BWB a success. I agree that this will be a challenging project but nothing that cannot be overcome. This is just the sort of project that captures the imagination and Boeing is more than capable of pulling it off IMO. Sure it will kill the 747-800 but by then Boeing should have more than recouped its modest investment. More importantly, think of what it does to the A380 and any hopes to generate a profit from that platform. With its resources tied up in the XWB, Airbus will have scant resources to respond and will be effectively left a generation behind.