More Joint Strike Fighter “pit testing” pics:
Ty’s Photography Showcase Site
“EXCUSE ME MR. LIGHTNING, YOU DROPPED SOMETHING!”
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Could u plz write an article on how u see ur ideal USAF in around 2040
Also plz mention ur replacements for the f 22 n the c130
Vibhor,
Admin could tell you, but he’d have to kill you.
Seriously, if Admin knew what things would be that far out, he would be at the Pentagon, because no one there really knows what things will be like in that time frame. That is almost three full decades away.
Yea, we all suspect that UAVs will have a much more significant roll in the future, but what those may be could change radically overnight.
What if the hypersonic flight problems are resolved by then. That is very different proposition than even a super-cruise aircraft, whether manned or not.
As far as the C-130 goes, I would not be surprised to see something beyond the C-130J still in service. Lockheed Martin designed an entirely new aircraft inside the known aerodynamic shape of the old (“legacy”)C-130. The C-130J, aside from being new production, is stronger, more capable and has greater take-off and cruise ability because of newer engines and props, an all glass cockpit and so on. It is now a modern aircraft.
A limited number of legacy C-130s have been retrofitted with new propellers which increase take-off thrust to that of the JATO assisted take-off thrust of the aircraft. JATO bottles are in very short supply and it appears that there are no plans to manufacture more. “Fat Albert’s” JATO take-offs at the Blue Angels’ shows are now a thing of the past.
In the near term, it appears that the USAF is going to have quite a reduction in the overall size of it fleet of aircraft due to budgetary constraints. It will be a challenge to meet its tasking with the advancing age of the remaining fleet. That is why the F-35 program looms so large. A lot of money has already been spent on it and there remain substantial questions about whether it will be able to meet is design/performance goals. It is supposed to be the aircraft to carry the USAF through until the time frame you reference.