U.S. warned it could lose air supremacy

[TeeYiYi]

I don't remember hearing about this. Yikes.

U.S. warned it could lose air supremacy

Friday, June 25, 2004 Posted: 9:48 AM EDT (1348 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- United States must modernize its fighter jets to maintain air supremacy, a top Air Force general said Wednesday citing the success of advanced Russian-made jets against American planes in a recent exercise as signaling an erosion of its overwhelming advantage.

Gen. Hal Hornburg, head of U.S. Air Combat Command, said a U.S. air-to-air exercise with the Indian Air Force in February, in which India used Russian jets to defeat aging American F-15Cs, revealed "that we may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we once thought we were."

More: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/23/airforce.supremacy.reut/index.html

TYY

[PaDUer]

1. They need $$$$

wonder how long before they cry about this? Lotsa money.

[FlemingsGhost]

2. Oh well ... at least we have "moral supremacy."

Oh, wait! I guess "Taco Supreme" will have to do.

(on edit: additional thought)

[papau]

3. we need to spend billions to defend against Indian Air Force ?

Oh - right - I forgot about Bush's Carlye Group/Haliburton/Boeing/etc. corporate Welfare plan.

Indeed that is the only welfare plan that he likes.

No problem - except with the top 1% owning 95% of America - the part that might get stolen without a strong military - perhaps they could pay 95% of the cost - rather than the modest amount they pay for now?

[shraby]

4. They want some new toys.

[TeeYiYi]

8. Subtle, aren't they? . . .

"He declined to discuss classified results of the exercise but said, "Something like Cope India, when we find that some of our advantages aren't as great as we thought they might be, leads me to remind people that we need to modernize our air-to-air capability."

Hornburg added, "We have been saying for a long time that we need newer fighters to do more things," and that the Indian exercise could be a "wake-up call" for Washington."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/23/airforce.supremacy.reut/index.html

TYY

[Cheesehead]

11. Do you recall the last time anyone engaged in an aerial dogfight

I can't. Maybe the '91 Gulf war?

[TeeYiYi]

12. I can recall the last time . . .

. . . someone SHOULD have been engaged in an aerial dogfight. (Or four.) Having better toys isn't going to make a difference if they're not sure how to run the ones they've got.

TYY

[Benhurst]

5. With all the hundreds of billions of Dollars we've been spending

on "defense," if this is true, the American military-industrial complex is totally corrupt and inept.

[shreck]

6. F22

The F-22 is scheduled for deployment in 2010.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Here we go again. Gov't digging into our wallets

Dang, but I wish my taxes didn't get wasted on this kind of nonsense.
Just stick with the helpful social programs, please!
-------------------------------------------------------
An open letter to John Kerry and the DNC.
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/OpenLetter.htm

[TeeYiYi]

9. kick

TYY:kick:

[baldguy]

10. We have to spend our military budget RATIONALLY.

The US spends more than the next ten largest national militaries COMBINED!