Jets & Planes but no UAV's here.

[Suhiir]

Originally Posted by FASTBOAT TOUGH

I'm not going to spend much time about the attached

We've long known top USAF commanders have very little interest in anything that's not an air superiority fighter or long range bomber. Ground support exists primarily because they don't want the US Army having fixed wing aircraft. And let's not even get into their attempts to bring naval aviation under their control. Transport mostly because they need to move parts, tools, and bombs; moving troops and combat equipment is something they do if they're not doing something more important ... like moving a USAF generals golf clubs.

As a replacement for a medium bomber, i.e. the Tornado or Aardvark, the F-35 is a poor choice. It's also a poor replacement for an air superiority fighter, the F-15. It's a tactical ground support aircraft, and at that job it excels.

YES, I have a chip on my shoulder concerning the USAF. They keep telling everyone that will listen they'll bomb the opposition into submission, and it never, ever, works. That's not to say they don't fulfill a valuable role, but in most cases it's one they're forced to fill not one they want to (on an institutional level).