03/04/10

At: American Thinker

Vanishing American Air Superiority

It has been a long, long time since American troops last had to fight a battle while being bombed and strafed by enemy aircraft. That is because the United States has always had two kinds of airplanes available: an Air Superiority Fighter, an expensive, highly capable machine that can rule the skies, and a Fighter Bomber, a less expensive, all around work-horse for ground attack and self-defense.

The F-15 and F-16, both drawn up in the 1960s and first flown in the 1970s, currently fill those two roles. They are 4th generation fighters. They are old. They are cracking and failing with metal fatigue. The F-22 and F-35 were intended to be their 5th generation replacements. Congress slashed the number of F-22s to be produced and then slashed it again. Obuma slashed the number further. The leftists asked why do we need two new airplanes, can't the less-expensive F-35 do it all?

It can't. Go read this excellent article and you'll understand why we're going to lose the next war.