Originally posted by Oracle
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My opinion on #1, The U.S. has built another super fighter along the lines of the F-15 Eagle. When the Eagle was being developed, it was derided as an expensive boondoggle that the U.S. couldn't afford, a costly overreaction to mistaken notions about the MiG-25 Foxbat. The truth is, it was extremely expensive. It did have a protracted and difficult development.
One example: It was supposed to have a brand new super-duper cannon to replace the 1950's-era M61 Vulcan. The result? A cancelled super-duper gun program with a huge expenditure of time and money wasted on an utter failure, causing the new super fighter to be equipped with the old Vulcan.
Yet, when one looks back at the F-15, it's a legend without peer in fighter history. In service for over 40 years, never once shot down in air-to-air combat, and over 100 kills.
And we haven't even talked about the Strike Eagle variant!
I have a feeling that the F-35 will, in its own way, be as much of a legend.
Is it worth the many billions of dollars? Well, as the saying goes "To win a war takes billions...to lose a war takes all you've got"
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