July 15, 2009
Strange Bedfellows

Ok, now I've seen everything: Obama administration's threat to veto F-22 purchase draws ire of gay activists. Those unfamiliar with how Washington works will be puzzled. Those familiar can repeat after me, "they must have attached a rider to the bill to get something passed."

Hehehehehehheh... rider... heheheheheheh...

Posted by scott at July 15, 2009 10:55 AM

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You AV-Geeks out there can update me on this, but it seems like the F22 is a maintenance nightmare right now - and it's just getting worse with time. Is this correct or are the stories overblown? Also, isn't this for something like a handful of additional purchases as we've already got the majority of the delivery?

The rider (yes, I giggled, too) is amusing, to say the least. As is the FAB-U-LOOUSSSS pic of the F16 all done up with modern and fashionable paint.

Posted by: Ron ap Rhys on July 15, 2009 11:52 AM

Yes, the F22 definitely seems to be turning into a very expensive plane to operate. This is an especially nasty surprise, as one of the things the AF and LockMart pinky-swear-on-my-mom's-grave promised was it would be cheaper to operate than the B-2 by orders of magnitude. That hasn't panned out.

Likely it'll be worked out in the next 5-10 years, which sounds bad, and in a way IS bad, but it's my understanding this aircraft is expected to last 50 years. It's otherwise shaping up to be a game-changing platform who's capabilities are surprising everyone. It seems to be fitting into the role of "an slightly slower SR-71 anyone can fly which can also kill you if it feels like it."

Posted by: scott on July 15, 2009 01:03 PM

That seems to line up with the last thing I heard, which was related to coating failures being a prime cause of down time. Those are a pain in the ass (just for regular paint) to fix and if that radar-sucking paint is necessary for that mission, you've gots to have it.

I do like that SR71 with guns comparison, though. Reach out and touch some in a painful manner.

Plus we can always hire more maintenance guys. We're cheap.

Posted by: Ron ap Rhys on July 15, 2009 02:14 PM

A stealthy F-22 is cheaper to operate than a stealthy B-2.

However, a non-stealthy B-2 is not much more expensive to operate than a B-52.

And the USAF, several years ago, quietly decided that some B-2 would just be non-stealthy from here on out...

Posted by: DensityDuck on July 15, 2009 07:40 PM
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