re: #774 Ward Cleaver

While the F-22 is the supreme air superiority fighter of all time, US design since the 60s envisioned dual role planes. The F-22 is well equipped to hit high value targets with precision munitions. The F-35 is an affordable multirole machine like the F16.

Occaisonal Reader is spot on.

The biggest flaw in US defense procurement is we don’t sever the R&D portion of the buy from production. When coupled with the oligopoly of General Dynamics, Boeing and Lockheed, the taxpayer gets raped on price. They do produce amazing machines but machines we can’t afford to lose.

Lastly, it is true of EVERY SINGLE MAJOR DEFENSE CONTRACT OF THE LAST 30 YEARS- if we just bought a slew of the machines and did not drag out purchases over decades, we would save 30-50% of the total program costs.