Something has been bugging me for the last four years or so, and even more since browsing this forum.
Over the last five decades aerospace technology has leaped from strength to strength on a wave Cold War funds, trying to achieve technological superiority over " the main adversary" ( this applies to both sides). In the wake of that wave of innovation, we saw costs searing, now seaminlgly out of control because... Well, to a certain degree, having technologically advanced aircraft has become too costly, unnecessary and redundant.
F16's, F15's and other multi-role aircraft used in COIN roles... Ill suited.
F22- and F35-programs being revised due to searing costs, downsized to a degree where they will no longer cover the needs of the military.
The needs have changed, the Transformation that is so often quoted by strategists... A legacy from the bad old days, much like a lot the hardware currently in service. The Tranformation theory is based on a reality that has been gone for years, probably ( oh dear...) since the mid 90's and the beginning of the rise of a terrorist threat that is now culminating.
This form of Legacy Thinking, so to speak, is ill suited to the reality on the field, and so is the hardware being developed along with it. It seems so clear... Then why isn't the industry reverting to simpler designs, projects...
The way things are going now it seems like the industry is actually in denial. Unable to asses reality as it poses itself in the field. Unable to cope with the ramifications that are imposed by asymetrical warfare, the industry just rolls on as if nothing is happening... Even the one project that adresses these ( the A-67 COIN aircraft) seems like a stop gap option, or just something to shut up all the critics so that they can go on... Business as usual.
Am I losing it a bit here, or has anybody made the same observations?
Over the last five decades aerospace technology has leaped from strength to strength on a wave Cold War funds, trying to achieve technological superiority over " the main adversary" ( this applies to both sides). In the wake of that wave of innovation, we saw costs searing, now seaminlgly out of control because... Well, to a certain degree, having technologically advanced aircraft has become too costly, unnecessary and redundant.
F16's, F15's and other multi-role aircraft used in COIN roles... Ill suited.
F22- and F35-programs being revised due to searing costs, downsized to a degree where they will no longer cover the needs of the military.
The needs have changed, the Transformation that is so often quoted by strategists... A legacy from the bad old days, much like a lot the hardware currently in service. The Tranformation theory is based on a reality that has been gone for years, probably ( oh dear...) since the mid 90's and the beginning of the rise of a terrorist threat that is now culminating.
This form of Legacy Thinking, so to speak, is ill suited to the reality on the field, and so is the hardware being developed along with it. It seems so clear... Then why isn't the industry reverting to simpler designs, projects...
The way things are going now it seems like the industry is actually in denial. Unable to asses reality as it poses itself in the field. Unable to cope with the ramifications that are imposed by asymetrical warfare, the industry just rolls on as if nothing is happening... Even the one project that adresses these ( the A-67 COIN aircraft) seems like a stop gap option, or just something to shut up all the critics so that they can go on... Business as usual.
Am I losing it a bit here, or has anybody made the same observations?