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www.us-tech.com
Tech-Op-ed July, 2014
SOUNDING OFF
By Walter Salm Editor
Is Every New U.S. Warplane a Boondoggle?
ing torn apart by sectarian civil war — and much of it in unison with the civ- il war in Syria. And now, as we go to press, the U.S. is getting into bed with Iran to try to support the supposedly democratic government that we left in place when our troops left Iraq three years ago. In the meantime, there’s another war going on at home, and it’s being
T
fought in Congress and the Department of Defense (DoD) over money and how it’s being wasted on our military aircraft. Current wisdom in Washing- ton is that we should full-steam ahead with the F-35 program, which on the surface looks very promising. After all, this single, all-service, all-purpose air- craft is today’s holy grail, the answer to all of the needs of the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Marines — each of whom has different require- ments for this wondrous war machine. Yet is this $200-million-plus-per-copy machine the real ultimate answer? According to Pierre Sprey in a CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) inter-
view, the F-35 is hopeless, and is not a good combat plane. It’s too big, too heavy, and too overloaded with too much electronics, weapons, and weight. It’s not go- ing to fare well in dogfights against older, faster, and more maneuverable jet fighters from Russia and China. Sprey was very outspoken in an interview that would probably never have happened on a U.S. television network because it flies in the face of all of the conventional thinking in Congress and the DoD. Sprey is a fully qualified expert, having been a principal designer of the
F-15 and the F-16. He points out rightfully so that the F-35 will also not be able to provide adequate ground support for our troops because it doesn’t have the capability to “hang around” at slow speeds and then provide accu- rate support. The ideal aircraft for that is the soon-to-be phased out A-10 Warthog, which we reported on in a previous issue of U.S. Tech saying its life had been extended another 26 years. Now DoD has changed its collective mind, deciding to phase out the A-10, the best and deadliest ground support aircraft our military arsenal has ever had. The phaseout of the A-10 will supposedly save money, since we will have
the F-35 for ground support. Not so. The F-35 still has not lived up to all of its hype, and probably never will, and can reasonably be expected to do a ter- rible job of ground support. Another contested area is the F-35’s capability as a stealth aircraft. Un-
less it flies on the deck (altitude of about 200 feet, a very dangerous feat in it- self), it will show up very nicely on enemy radar, since they’re still operating older, low-frequency radar using WW2 technology. The plane is apparently stealthy only when the enemy uses current, cutting-edge, higher-frequency radar systems. The stealth F-117 was shot down during the Balkan “police ac- tion” because the enemy there was using old radar systems left over from WW2. They cut right through all that expensive stealth stuff. We recall reporting here several years ago on the wonderful, super fight-
er for the 21st Century called the F-22, which turned out to be another very ex- pensive boondoggle that was finally scrapped by DoD in favor of the F-35. Scrapping the F-22 Raptor program was not a mistake, but setting sights on the F-35 as the answer to everything apparently was also a misguided decision. In a recent The New York Times opinion piece, it was pointed out that
major wars have always produced serious upsurges in (1)the nation’s econo- my and (2) a fast track to new technology. This was explained as a function of Keynesian economics. While the writer doesn’t necessarily favor warfare as being beneficial, it’s hard to ignore such wartime technological advances as radar, the atomic bomb and jet aircraft. Another look backward might be in order here. Keep the A-10 flying and
supporting our troops. Re-evaluate and do some upgrades to the F-16, a time- tested, battle-tested superstar that will outperform the F-35 as an all-around fighter. A new generation of the F-16 that uses some of the fancy new elec- tronics developed for the F-35 might be in order here and will be a lot cheap- er. Why not? The stuff has already been paid for. True, the F-16 won’t take off vertically, it won’t provide a single aircraft that tries to satisfy everybody, it won’t cost over $200 million per copy, nor will it provide a lot of “pork” to go around in Congress. Let’s get our priorities right for a change. r
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
By Jacob Fattal Publisher
See You on the Road S
he news from Iraq is very disquieting — no, not disquieting, it’s down- right scary and frustrating. After so many years, so many American lives lost, and enormous amounts of money spent, the country is now be-
olar has been a mixed bag for the last year. The business is on the upswing (see “Tech Watch” in this issue of U.S. Tech) as manufacturers gear up to meet the spiraling demand. U.S. companies are still struggling to match
the lower-priced competition from China, which is largely subsidized by the Bei- jing regime. But as labor costs continue to escalate there, U.S. companies are in- creasing automation in production to help drive down costs. This year’s Intersolar Show, held in conjunction with Semicon West, is
expected to provide a handle for predicting and forecasting industry growth for the rest of 2014. In next month’s issue we’ll be reporting on the consummation of an enor-
mous and important manufacturing industry acquisition which will certainly have some bearing on the entire solar PV industry, followed by the heaviest trade show schedule of the year. September kicks off with Autotest in St. Louis, and PCB West in Santa
Clara. Then to Rosemont for SMTAI, followed closely in October by ATX at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Two weeks later, IMAPS opens in San Diego, fol- lowed by the Assembly Show in Rosemont. In November, there’s Fabtech in Atlanta and electronica in Munich. It’s a super-busy show schedule, and U.S. Tech will be at all of them,
bringing you, our readers, the latest news, new products, features and colum- nists. As the largest print publication in this industry, we will continue to grow and to bring you all the news not only in print but on our website and digital editions. Topical reporting, reviews and exceptional writing — all are our special gift to you, our loyal readers. See you on the road, wherever there’s a trade show. r
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