$66,385,000,000

[unhappycamper]

That's what those 187 F-22 Raptors cost. The ones with the rust problem...

This is some expensive junk.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8428319

[Statistical]

1. Rust problems don't make them junk.

It is just a problem that needs to be solved.

[no limit]

2. You would think that something that cost 66 billion wouldn't have rust problems.

[Statistical]

11. If it is metal and it exists on earth rust is a problem.

:)

[no limit]

13. Not if you have 60 billion to address said rust problem

You would think with that kind of money somebody would have been smart enough to say "hey, these might rust issues, we should probably address that in the planning stages".

[Statistical]

14. They do. It was an oversight.

It isn't like the entire plane is rusting through.

The cockpit shouldn't have standing water/condensation. Thus engineers used steel in ejection seat. A fault in drainage means the assumption by engineers working on ejection seat was false and rust formed.

The fix is to either make ejection seat rust resistant or to ensure the cockpit drains condensation properly.

[no limit]

15. Any ideas how much that's going to cost?

Seems simple enough, but with the military the impression I get nothing ever ends up being as simple as it looks.

[Statistical]

17. Yeah no idea.

Hopefully it is a simple fix but you are right with the military there is never any guarantee.

[tech9413]

19. The problems aren't the problem. The problem is cost versus

need. We don't really have a need for some super-advanced fighter since we don't have an adversary to require their use. We already have world class fighters that cost much much less to produce and are extremely effective against any existing adversary.

[Statistical]

20. Except they are getting old.

Fighters are not like sneakers. You keep a fighter for 30, 40, even 50 years.

So the question is will current fighters be capable in 2060?

Given that many of our existing fighters are reaching end of life they will need to be replaced either with existing models or with new models.

You don't build the fighter you want today, you build the fighter you want in 2040 - 2060. Will a fighter designed in 1960s still be capable in 2060?

[gratuitous]

3. Well, shit

It's not like there's anything else we could spend $66 billion on. We must retain supremacy in the air, just in case the Soviet Union makes the mother of all comebacks. And what about the lurking menace of the rebirth of the Habsburg Empire? And you just know those sneaky Merovingians are just biding their time for the day we spend our tax dollars on the citizens instead of funneling it into the overstuffed pockets of feckless defense contractors. We'll be fucked but good then.

Are 187 F-22s enough?

[no limit]

4. Image what we could do if we could invest 60 billion in blow out preventer technology

or if you really want to get crazy 60 billion for clean energy.

[WeDidIt]

12. I'd be all for an F-22 project for clean energy

and $65 billion for clean energy research would do more for National Security than 187,000 F-22s.

[Scuba]

5. Unnecessary...

...our military is larger than the next eleven combined, ten of which are our allies.

No money for healthcare, social programs, clean energy, the environment.

Plenty of money for the war machine.

[madmax]

18. +1

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Well, we need them to fend off the Taliban Air Force.

[L0oniX]

7. ...and the damn camels and donkeys.

[Soylent Brice]

8. duh.

[UndertheOcean]

9. I wonder if you can get 0% APR on those things .

[madrchsod]

10. what war are we going to fight with these planes?

china? russia? india? what country are we going to war with this century?

or are we just going to pick one out of the hat to show the world how tough we are?

[jgraz]

16. The war on the middle class

The same war all the defense spending is intended to fight.

[readmoreoften]

22. +1

[readmoreoften]

21. Nothing better to do with 66 billion. Plus, they're environmental wonders.

I know that F-13s burned the equivalent of a 2 years of household car travel every hour. I'm sure these bad boys are just as ecologically sound. The US military is the largest polluter on the planet outside China (and I believe it has surpassed China by certain measures.)

I love people who recycle and support the surge!!!!! :sarcasm: