F-15 down in the Pacific

[+Swordsman422 61]

The USAF has a new member of the Martin Baker Fan Club. Thank God the pilot is okay. Unspecified trouble with the aircraft forced the ejection.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/27/world/asia/japan-us-jet-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[+warthog64 94]

Thank God the pilot is safe. Too bad though another Eagle was lost, the USAF needs those too badly and can't afford a high attrition rate. Maybe more F-22's will be funded in the future but for now the 30 year old F-15C is still very important.

Edited May 28, 2013 by warthog64

[thodouras95 25]

Good that he's still in one piece.Let's see what the experts have to say about the Eagle.

[macelena 1,070]

If the pilot is OK, it is good enough. However, i would bet my skin on no more Raptors produced. There should have been more, but i´m afraid there aren´t gonna be any more raptors now that they´ve stopped making them. F-35s will have to make do.

[+Swordsman422 61]

As for more F-22s, their role is too limited in this budgetary environment. No self-designation for LGBs, No AGMs, Limited to 2000 Lbs (vs. F/A-18E/F 17,000 Lbs). Currently limited to below 10K feet due to gremlins in the life support system. There isn't a whole lot of room for new single role tactical aircraft and the F-22s reputation isn't good right now.

 

Sad to say that I am certain someone with a microphone (no one here. We are all above that, and this is not sarcasm) will spin this accident into an uninformed criticism of the reality that has been two decades in the making. I am just very happy that the pilot is going to be okay. I hope that this was not his fault and that he can keep doing the job he loves to do and fought hard for.

[fallenphoenix1986 603]

Glad he got out, quite a few birds gone down in that neck of the woods in the last couple of years.

 

Also strictly speaking he aint in the MB club since they didnt make the seat :P

 

Craig

[+warthog64 94]

Even though the F-22A has limited air to ground capability, it is still the best air to air weapon in the world. The F-15C is also only a single role fighter and getting old very fast. The life support system issues are being fixed according to a friend stationed out at Langley. Even a single F-22 with a external Sniper targeting pod is much stealthier than a F-16 or FA-18, despite only carrying 2,000 lbs of bombs it could do the mission without the support of SEAD or EW aircraft. Carrying GPS weapons doesn't require a targeting pod anyways if the target has already been identified. These capabilities may not be enough to save the F-22's reputayion as a multirole fighter, but as an air superiority fighter it is unmatched. Too much is being expected from the F-35 and tests are showing this, carrying enough weapons as an F-16 or F/A-18 requires it to carry bombs externally which compromises its stealth, and other tests have shown it is inferior to the ancient F-15 and SU-27 in the air to air role. What the U.S. needs are more F-22s and upgraded F-16s and F/A-18s instead of the F-35.

Edited May 29, 2013 by warthog64

[JediMaster 451]

The F-35 isn't supposed to compete with the F-15 or Su-27 in AA. The F-22 was, and it does. It also doesn't need to carry that many weapons when it has to be stealthy. The IDEA is for it to carry a few "silver bullets" during the opening of a campaign when it's important, then load up on the bombs when the radar threat has been eliminated or at least sharply reduced. The F-117 carried two bombs, only, ever. It couldn't carry more. It never needed to. It would hit two targets or one target twice then RTB to rearm! Yet apparently that's not good enough for a single-engined F-35 fighter that apparently is supposed to have the bomb load of a medium bomber, and hit at least 6 targets per sortie? And the fact is that even with external stores the F-35 will STILL be stealthier than any F-16 or Hornet...so if the environment is permissive enough for THEM to not be swatted out of the sky in seconds, it's certainly still even more survivable for an F-35! You can't upgrade the previous generation to be as stealthy as the F-35. Just not possible. So if an upgraded one of them is good enough, the F-35 is BETTER.

 

So damn many armchair generals confidently proclaiming the combat efficacy of a plane whose abilities are still highly classified based on the opinions of OTHER armchair generals who don't really know any more. The repetition of claims by uninformed or underinformed parties does not lend credence to their opinions. Everyone used to "know" the Earth was flat, too, but the passing along of that claim from person to person did nothing to alter the reality.

Edited May 30, 2013 by JediMaster

[Nesher 628]

glad to hear the pilot is okay! too bad for the Eagle, I wouldn't mind getting it instead of it crashing to the ground ^_^

[JediMaster 451]

I wouldn't mind it still flying either.

[+CrazyhorseB34 937]

F-35 is a bomb truck.