Top 10 most expensive military planes

[jolinar of malkshor]

Kind of neat.

http://www.time.com/time/photogaller...913325,00.html

[STeeLy]

No surprise that F22 and B2 topped the list.

[valo403]

I'll take one of each

[sclitheroe]

There's no way the F-18 costs $94 million a piece, otherwise those are pretty nice photos

[Hack&Lube]

F-22 is cancelled anyway. They are going to produce a dozen more and then it's over.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

F-22 is cancelled anyway. They are going to produce a dozen more and then it's over.

Is it because it costs so much to make? That's one nice looking aircraft... but I see no reason to cancel it. If it is deemed the 'greatest' aircraft of our times right now... why not? Those F-18's are starting to get old aren't they?

I don't know too much about fighter planes but it's pretty interesting to me.

What are the major differences between the F-22, Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Is it because it costs so much to make? That's one nice looking aircraft... but I see no reason to cancel it. If it is deemed the 'greatest' aircraft of our times right now... why not? Those F-18's are starting to get old aren't they?

I don't know too much about fighter planes but it's pretty interesting to me.

What are the major differences between the F-22, Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter?

It never helps when your vaunted air superiority fighter can't go in the rain: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...070903020.html

(although to be honest, I'm sure these claims are overblown somewhat - they had to know the skin of the aircraft would be a high maintenance item)

[QuadCityImages]

The reason for canceling them is the cost and the fact that they're designed for the "type of wars we don't fight anymore." Even though the last several wars we've been in haven't involved much need for air superiority fighters, I don't like the idea that we're assuming we'll never have to fight a conventional war again.

[Tyler]

I wonder how much the Canadian Air Force spends on duct tape each year to keep our CF-18s up and running.

I bet those aircraft are usually older than their pilots are.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Is it because it costs so much to make? That's one nice looking aircraft... but I see no reason to cancel it. If it is deemed the 'greatest' aircraft of our times right now... why not? Those F-18's are starting to get old aren't they?

I don't know too much about fighter planes but it's pretty interesting to me.

What are the major differences between the F-22, Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter?

The F-22 has a massive advantage over the others in terms of speed with the ability to supercruise, stealth cross section, the F-22 looks like a sparrow on radar. Maneuverability while the Eurofighter is extremely maneuverable in terms of vectored thrust, the F-22 has the edge. Electronic suites, weapon systems. Basically everything.

[BlackArcher101]

More duct tape than you can imagine.... But think of all the money we saved in prolonging the purchase of new ones! (sarcasm)

[wooohooo]

Seeing as the F-22 is millions more than the other aircraft however, they also are more advanced. Wouldn't it be better to have 10 F-22's than have 30 Eurofighters?

I also heard they're building way more F-35's to F-22's because of the cost... so if I'm not mistaken the F-35 is just a dumbed down F-22?

[Bill Bumface]

I was lucky enough to see two F-22's pulling some ridiculous maneuvers while I was cruising up the QE2 near the Leduc International Airport. They were maybe 100m off the ground and about 300m away at one point and I opened my window to see what they sounded like and couldn't hear a thing over the highway noise. Amazing machines even if they can't hack the rain

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I was lucky enough to see two F-22's pulling some ridiculous maneuvers while I was cruising up the QE2 near the Leduc International Airport.

When was this?

[Bobblehead]

Another issue with the F-22 is there is 30+ hours of maintenance for every hour of flight time.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense puts that figure at 34 hours of maintenance per single hour of flight at a cost of $49,808 per hour of flight

[BlackArcher101]

That's just reconculous. I wonder what Canada's aging F18's require for maintenance time per hour.

On that note, is there any word what Canada is looking at replacing the F18's with? Did they send out a request for bid yet? Last I heard it was possibly between the Super Hornet and the Eurofighter?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

That's just reconculous. I wonder what Canada's aging F18's require for maintenance time per hour.

On that note, is there any word what Canada is looking at replacing the F18's with? Did they send out a request for bid yet? Last I heard it was possibly between the Super Hornet and the Eurofighter?

Pretty sure it will be the F-35, as Canada is a partner nation and will be licensed to do some of the manufacturing in-country

[sclitheroe]

I like this little article: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/20090721.aspx

And this quote in particular:
The problem with the F-22 is that it is way ahead in performance, and cost. The argument against the F-22 is that it provides more performance than the air force can afford. Now, when it comes to performance, fighter pilots feel "too much ain't enough." But to the air force commanders who must plan and conduct the battles and campaigns, too much performance in too few aircraft can be a losing proposition.

It sums it up in a nutshell - the F-22 is almost too much plane for even the U.S. A single F-22 may be very capable, but at the end of the day, the U.S. air force has a lot of airspace in a lot of places that they need to cover and project power over.

[Bob]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

When was this?

Airdrie / Red Deer airshow, maybe?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

When was this?

I think it was possibly early June?