25 Feb 21
1 edit
@athousandyoung saidRight. And again, I'm no modern warfare strategist. But clearly we're prepared to deal with threats in a much different way than we were in WW2, right? We have 5,800 nuclear weapons and 700 drones.
They were useful when Japan blew up Pearl Harbor. If you are an isolationist just say so. Was WW2 in Europe good for national security?
My issue with the F-35 is more about scale. Politicians on capitol hill are debating whether or not to include pieces of spending bills for $50 million or $200 million. Certainly these are laaarge sums of money, but the F-35 project is 34,000 times larger than that (and as you say, the benefits are theoretical, subjective, and up for philosophical debate.) The politicians who support unlimited military spending are bickering over peanut shells.
25 Feb 21
@wildgrass saidI remember the discussions in Holland about either investing in the JSF (the F-35) or the Eurofighter (Typhoon).
$1,700 Billion. That's 8.8 x the net worth of Jeff Bezos. Down the toilet. Lockheed Martin should have to give us back this money... ridiculous
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2021/02/23/the-us-air-force-just-admitted-the-f-35-stealth-fighter-has-failed/
Against the wishes of many, the Netherlands opted for the F-35.
Even back then it was pointed out that the Typhoon was more agile and probably the better investment.
I have no clue. I don’t even know if the JSF and the Typhoon are 4th or 5th generation fighters.
I did read, somewhere, that France is developing a 6th generation fighter.
It all means squat-diddley to me.
Nothing is more beautiful than a Spitfire or Stuka.
25 Feb 21
@athousandyoung saidThat's an interesting point, Turkey. Turkey wanted to buy S-400 SAM's from Russia,
And they are still buying. Even Turkey still wants it. And Israel. And UK. And others.
as they are the best SAM's in the world. The US offered Turkey the US Patriot
missile and told Turkey if they deploy the S-400's they have, they will be taken out
of the F-35 program. And Turkey has been trying to get back into the F-35
program ever since.
Turkey must really want the F-35.
Also, as of January 21, the UAE and the US agreed on a deal to purchase 50 F-35's
25 Feb 21
@AThousandYoung - I don't know. Why don't we cancel some of the Gerald R Ford supercarriers we are buying? 13 billion each.
Couldn't agree more. This is why representative democracy just isn't good
enough, we need intervention by the people, because if the American people had
a chance to vote on it back in the day when the power pigs in Washington
decided to supersize the military, the people would have said NO.
And if people think a $Billion is a lot of money (it is), then we should be
much alarmed at deficit spending like we did in 2020, $$1.1 Trillion, aka,
$$1,100 Billion. Now that's a lot of lot of money.
25 Feb 21
@athousandyoung saidDuchess 64 said: AThousandYoung wrongly claimed or implied that the UK's eager to buy F-35s.
The UK already has F35s.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/three-more-f-35b-aircraft-delivered-british-royal-air-force-173674
Would AThousandYoung like to hold his breath until that day arrives?
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<grin> priceless
25 Feb 21
@shavixmir saidFrance was teaming up with Germany to make a new Euro fighter. But last I heard the plans were put on hold.
I remember the discussions in Holland about either investing in the JSF (the F-35) or the Eurofighter (Typhoon).
Against the wishes of many, the Netherlands opted for the F-35.
Even back then it was pointed out that the Typhoon was more agile and probably the better investment.
I have no clue. I don’t even know if the JSF and the Typhoon are 4th or 5th generation ...[text shortened]... fighter.
It all means squat-diddley to me.
Nothing is more beautiful than a Spitfire or Stuka.