U.S. warned it could lose air supremacy

[Bhaisahab]

Gen. Hal Hornburg, head of U.S. Air Combat Command, said a U.S. air-to-air exercise with the Indian Air Force in February, in which India used Russian jets to defeat aging American F-15Cs, revealed "that we may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we once thought we were."

Defense experts in both the United States and Europe, however, have said it is unlikely that America -- with vast spending power and a major industrial base -- would lose its dominance in military technology.

U.S. defense officials have said Indian SU-30, Mig-27 and older MiG-21 jets, some armed with Russian-made AA-10 air-to-air missiles, got the best of F-15s based in Alaska in exercise "Cope India" high over northern India.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/06/23/airforce.supremacy.reut/index.html

[Ganja Ninja]

1. Sounds like the air force is angling for some more money.

I doubt that the exercise was conducted like a real attack scenario.

[Wright Patman]

2. Right-wingers are always

quick to use the term "treason" for just about any and all failures on the part of the rest of us to bow the knee to the false messiah in the White House.

I would say what is much closer to treason is a military-industrial complex which can spend a budget that, on an annual basis, is bigger than the next 20 countries combined and there even be ANY QUESTION that our hardware is the best or not.

Russia's military budget, particularly in the last 15 years or so, has literally been peanuts compared to ours. Maybe we should just "outsource" the entire aerospace industry to them. We've already had to use their space vehicles to get to the International Space Station since the latest shuttle disaster.

You know, if there ever really was a war between Russia and the U.S., it would be nuclear and no one would win, but I am really beginning to believe that the U.S. actually is a "paper tiger" as many critics have maintained.

There would be some doubt about this had we not wasted our military assets so many times in the past five years beginning with the Kosovo debacle (which was only ended by the intensified bombing of civilian targets in Serbia resulting in the death of thousands as the bombers were missing 99 percent of the dug-in tanks in Kosovo they were trying to hit from 15,000 feet or hitting microwave ovens used to attract the radiation-seeking missiles). But now there is no doubt that the U.S. military behemoth cannot bring stability to any part of the world, no matter how small.

Part of the problem may be due to the arrogant USAn supremacist nature of the "peacekeepers." Look how quickly they blew whatever goodwill existed among the Iraqis for overthrowing Saddam. I knew things would not go as smoothly as the neocons predicted, but the size and scope of this debacle surprised even a critic like me.

[SheilaT]

3. Considering that we spend

more money than the entire rest of the world combined on our military, I'm not very convinced we're falling behind.

Remember the "missile gap" of the 60's? There never was one. It was purely a lie to scare Congress into giving unlimited funding to the military.

[Fitzovich]

4. F15's

True this airplane is getting old. It started service in the 1970's as I recall. However, it's still a great airplane and the conditions of the test need to be reviewed. A Mig 21 getting the best of an F15? Anything is possible depending on conditions but, I have doubts about that one. Do we really need the F22? I don't know. I suspect we probably need to get out of Iraq and stop wasting money there so that our forces can have well maintained equipment, things like body armor, armored Humvee's and training instead of this silly adventure.

[sam sarrha]

6. I helped develop the work instructions for the avionics on the F-22

NO ONE will ever be able to build a plane to threaten the F-22 for generations or maybe ever.. since *ush F'd up the entire world economy.

The F-2 is designed to fly in at in formation EXTREMELY high speed, in stealth and takes out all the competition. radar, anti-aircraft and the enemy planes. It has a specific mission once the enemy's defenses are out the older planes can be use more effectively, there are also variations of wing patterns, one is a medium bomber from EXTREME altitude..

to sacrifice this plane for tax cuts for the worlds richest 2% is TREASON... plane and simple. and the murder the troops this thing could protect.

[gasperc]

5. however, with the world uniting AGAINST us

that combined spending power may, uh, CRUSH US

[tom_paine]

7. What is all this talke of the "US". That place is gone to the pages of

history (though many hope it will be restored, someday).

Imperial Amerika is where we live now, even if we do not accept Imperial Tyranny as legitimate.

Where is this "US" place people keep talking about?

I think I read about it in a history book, somewhere.

[ladjf]

10. America is in decline.

There is nothing to indicate a turnaround is in sight.

1. The mean IQ if the population is trending down.

2. Global corporate interests are tightening their hold on the reins
of U.S. Government.

3. The religious right-wing is increasing it's influence on the people. This trend moves people further from objective modes of thinking and diverts a significant percentage of personal assets to
various money grabbing religious entities.

4. The U.S. is squandering natural resources.

5. The national debt is rising unabated.


In the future, the leading countries will be those that are free from religious extremism and that share the profits of capitalism with the general population.

[hatrack]

8. America is beginning to remind me of descriptions of Assyria

"The Corpse in Armor".

[Kinkistyle]

9. We could just outsource our Air-Force to India

The republican "Free-Traders" should be all for it right? It should actually make our military stronger and better!