Why You Can't Trust Congress With Your Hard Earned Money

[Rickideemus]

They used to say "a million here, a million there, pretty soon you're talking about real money." So how much is a trillion? It's ONE MILLION MILLION DOLLARS! It's enough to write a check for $3,000 to every man woman and child in the U.S.

Pierre Sprey, designer of the F16, explains why the F-35 -- a TRILLION dollar project of three separate branches of the armed forces -- is a "pretense ... a kludge ... a turkey ... exceptionally dumb ... not good at anything ... will fail time and time again." The point? "The point is to spend money ... for the U.S. congress to send money to Lockheed, that's the real mission of the airplane."

[video=youtube_share;mxDSiwqM2nw]http://youtu.be/mxDSiwqM2nw[/video]

 

[CaliTVguy]

Well, if you didn't study modern Air to Air Warfare, then its good counter intelligence for our adversaries to listen to him...
Some quotes on his hate of the F-15 that has made the F-16 that he designed less relevant in the modern era:
"
Then there is the undeniable combat record of the Eagle, yet Mr. Sprey seems to think that the F-15 is a loser even after four decades of incredible success, not to mention the fact that it has never been bested in air-to-air combat and retains a kill ration of 105.5 to 0. This denial of clear historical reality is a startling indication that Mr. Sprey may be living in the 1970s when it comes to air-combat doctrine, or maybe he simply does not want to admit that his stripped down, all super-maneuverable light-weight visual fighters or nothing initiative was not the right path for America's air combat forces after all."

Some more:
"
I don't think many people are looking at the F-35 and saying, boy that is one shitty attack aircraft! The fact that it can hold a pair of 2,000lb class weapons and a pair of AIM-120 AMRAAMs internally is one of the F-35A & C models best attributes, along with its unbelievably capable avionics suite and sensor fusion."

Decent article here:
Pierre Sprey's Anti-F-35 Diatribe Is Half Brilliant And Half Bullshit

Best to do your research on military matters...about 2 thousand other things to blame congress for...the F-35 shouldn't necessarily be high on your list less you want to be outclassed by Russia and China here in a few years. If you are a military hater, then that's ok too...they just give us the freedom to wank about what we want!

 

[Rickideemus]

Best to do your research on military matters...

I don't have to. Pierre Sprey has done the research for me, and I trust him, his background, and his judgement. For instance, he wrote a chapter recently in the compendium "America's Defense Meltdown," from Stanford University, and the list of his qualifications goes on twice as long as any of the other authors. He talks like a mathematician, an engineer and an analyst for the Pentagon -- and he is all of those things.

I can't find ANY qualifications for Tyler Rogoway other than as a marketing and advertising guru and aviation photog. He has written no books. The pentagon doesn't call him for advice. Sprey may be simplifying to present his beliefs to the public -- after all, he could fill a blackboard with equations on engineering and game theory, but that would never get air time -- but Rogoway is simplifying merely to inflate his own image versus an authoritative genius.

For instance, he sets up several straw dogs, and knocks them down willy-nilly. Sprey NEVER gushed over the F-16, even though most of the world did. In fact he says several times right in that interview, "the F-16 was GOING to be maneuverable," etc. Clearly he was unhappy with the Air Force's execution of his design, which is no surprise. That's what government does. It takes good ideas and turns them to mush. And that's why Sprey eventually quit the Pentagon and went into the music business.

And what was Rogoway's conclusion after all his preening and pruning? "The F-35 may not be a good investment for America, and many would argue that the whole concept bit off way more than its manufacturer, or the US Government for that matter, could chew." BS. The F-35 is a ONE TRILLION DOLLAR BOONDOGGLE right down the drain. Sure, maybe the whole program would have been worth a few billion IF it was put in the hands of adults with a clear vision for our national defense -- but it never was. Even if it's worth 50 billion, that's still only 5% of a trillion.

about 2 thousand other things to blame congress for...

You'll get no argument there! I read somewhere an estimate of the hole our wonderful government has put the average citizen in. It's no mere $3,000. It's on the order of a quarter of a MILLION.

Rick