The flying money pit

Here in the leaner, meaner (read poorer) America, we have to learn to cut corners and do without (Perish the thought). That includes the US Air Force, which saw one of its weapons systems nixed this week.

A buddy of mine wrote in to The Divagator offering up a little analysis of the F-22’s demise. Since I’m one of those people who never met a weapons system he didn’t like, this was a very instructive short essay on the F-22, which, like national health insurance, is something we don’t need in this era of trillion-dollar annual deficits.

According to the FOTD (Friend of The Divagator):

“I have read a number of news and analysis pieces about the killing of the F-22, and they all tell the same story (expensive hardware, redundant, lobbyists, jobs in congressional districts, military industrial complex – all of which is true). But none of them dig down into the bureaucratic shifts and service rivalries that are clearly part of this issue.

“The F-22 is an Air Force jet, not capable of Close Air Support (CAS) of troops on the ground. For that, the military relies on the Army and Marines (A-10 Warthog "tank killers," AC-130 Specter Gunships, various attack helicopters). Beyond high altitude bombing runs by heavy bombers and drones, the Air Force is pretty much sidelined in Iraq and Afghanistan (and the CIA is operating a lot of the drones).

“Despite the little CAS the Air Force could provide, the Army and Marines would rather use their own assets since the command structures and protocols are more familiar. And when the Air Force does offer CAS, it arrives because an Air Force combat controller (a trained pilot) is embedded with ("fragged out" in the lingo) an Army or Marine infantry unit, and with lasers and communications equipment he directs the Air Force's mission.

“But in most cases, the air assets are part and parcel of the whatever Marine or Army unit is on the ground. The 10th Mountain Division has its own air wing; the 101 Airborne is a helicopter assault force with light infantry, mortars, and field artillery. Etc.

“So where is the Air Force?

“Preparing for war with China and to strike North Korea. Which is all well and good, but F-22s don't help with Afghanistan, and the Pentagon planners have been pretty courageous in preserving current priorities over high-tech wish-lists. Besides, the F-35 Joint Strike stealth fighter-bomber is already being developed to annihilate an enemy. Why is killing the F-22 (we do have 187 of them) even controversial?”