F-117 to be retired next month

[spejic]

Wow, almost 30 years old. Excellent record of service.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-03-11-stealth_N.htm

[CrewDust]

I hope the F-22 and it's crews can handle all the missions it is expected to do.

[spejic]

The thing about the F-117 is that it is basically a single purpose aircraft - it is totally designed around delivering 2 2000lb laser guided free-fall weapons on a pre-determined target. But around 7 years ago, that mission became somewhat obsolete because the GPS guided bomb started coming into use. It is cheaper, safer for the aircraft, and way easier to target.

The problem with the F-22 (and now they are giving it the stupid title "F/A-22") is that its bays are designed for air-to-air missions, and can't carry even what the F-117 could (2 1000lb GPS bombs or maybe 8 of the tiny SDMs sometime in the future). Really, this kind of mission is best carried out by either cruise missiles or by an autonomous stealthy or mostly disposable drone aircraft. During a typical F-117 mission pretty much the only thing the guy in the front does is point the laser for the bombs - all the flying including the takeoff and landing are done by computer. So if you are carrying unpointed weapons (like GPS bombs, which are programmed for targets before takeoff), you don't need people.

[Mr. Warmth]

During a typical F-117 mission pretty much the only thing the guy in the front does is point the laser for the bombs - all the flying including the takeoff and landing are done by computer. So if you are carrying unpointed weapons (like GPS bombs, which are programmed for targets before takeoff), you don't need people.


One step closer...



http://www.goingfaster.com/ogre/ogre5.jpg