Does anyone have the first shot of the F-12 or whatever. It had those exact same bogus pods under the fuse along with other prosthetics. I believe you are right and they were mostly bare metel.

This baby was AF1 in Transformers The Motion Picture!

USAF is not telling the whole story…

Its been a while since posting here, I miss the “heated” debates…

Anyway, the USAF is saying that “mission critical” aircraft, including those participating overseas in the Middle East theatre and those manning NORAD QRA back in the states are not effected. This is not true, all Eagles, including the Mud Hen, are grounded everywhere. Even Afghanistan and Iraq. Further, the F-15 is no longer manning QRA in the USA in support of noble eagle. How do I know this?? I saw CA ANG F-16s from the 144th FW land @ PDX (portland, Oregon) with live rounds, taxi into the NORAD shelters and assuming the Noble Eagle mission for the resident 142nd FW operating a split inventory of F-15A/B and Cs. My point: This is not going to last a week, this seems to be the beginning of a long process.

Check it out for yourself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vector1771/

And yes, the F-22 lobby is sitting in Raptor heaven right now!

I have always admired the Spartan as an aircraft that is extremely relavant in the WOT and expeditionary operations. I am glad the US Army and USAF bought the more tacticaly capable airframe regardless of operating costs. I dont think the warfighter cares much which airframe is most cost effective on milk runs in the CONUS but which is going to be more robust and capable in the field when lives are on the line, not just in the air but on the ground for troops who need their supplies/medevac etc. The USCG bought the Casa and I think they made a smart purchase for their intended use, a modified cilivian airframe will work just fine. But when it comes to operations we see today overseas this would be an unwise compromise. Dont be surprised if you see these babies deployed all the time once they reach IOC, they are a very much needed element in the tough conflicts the US is facing abroad and will serve the warfighter well if they are allowed to do their job. Do not misunderstand this post I think the C-295 is a very nice aircraft and would be effective, although in a reduced battlefield capacity then that of the Spartan. If we need aircraft that are cheap to operate for milkruns then why dont we just purchase some D-8s?

Great insights none the less on this topic.

Wow, I have always heard the opposite about the F-22s computing power, open architecture, cooling, and emmense expandibility. Furthermore there has always been a plan by LM to offer the USAF many of the systems being developed for the F-35 to be retrofitted or installed on new build F-22’s. You might want to check your facts on that one!

As far as F-35 over F-22, can you say “Protecting American Aerospace Industry!” One of the main reasons why congress supports the F-35 over the F-22 is that the aircraft will ensure a large fighter export market for decades to come. The F-22 will not. Also the Lightning is built from subcontractors in almost every single state in the union!

It also will have better range, weapons load, weapons integration, operating costs, etc etc etc yada yada yada.

I think the all stealth force is a costly mistake for the over gizmo infatuated USAF.