Of course there are maintenance issues with the stealth coating – as there were on the F-117 and B-2. (Both of which were highly successful in combat, after being labeled “maintenance nightmares”). Maintenance on the coating is a part of the cost of employing stealth. The maintenance issues on the F-117 were even more difficult, but that didn’t detract from their success in the first Gulf War.

What the Post doesn’t tell you is the wild success story that the F-22 has become at Red Flag and Northern Edge,in realistic mock combat. Racking up 244-0 kills against the best pilots in the world at Nellis and in Alaska.

The F-22 has flown against Australian, Indian, British and US Navy pilots, as well as the USAF’s red force at Nellis (arguably the best pilots in the Air Force). In every case, the F-22 has racked up wildly lopsided victories.

These aren’t the “rigged tests” which seem to be the dogmatic response of the weenies in Washington who have never piloted an aircraft. In most cases, the opposing aircraft don’t even know the F-22 is nearby until they are shot down. Even when they do see it visually, their weapons won’t lock-on.

And of course the Post quoted the usual suspects – Thomas Christie and Pierre Sprey – the “Grumpy Old Men” of the defense world, still clinging to their glory days in the Pentagon and arguing that the aircraft that they worked on in the 1970’s – the F-15 and F-16 – are still viable in the 21st century.

I have some news. They’re not.

Most of those old aircraft are having a hard time just getting off the runway.

And the teen-series of fighters won’t survive over Iran or North Korea, not to mention Russia or China – simply because of the SAM threat alone. They are also vastly outclassed by the latest generation of fighters coming off the assembly lines in Russia and China – The J-10, J-11 and the Su-30 series.

Perhaps the next time the Post wants to write about the F-22, they should interview some of the brave pilots who fly them – not congressional aids, unnamed sources in the Pentagon or crusty bitter old men who worked for the DoD thirty years ago.

Wait – what was I thinking? This is the Washington Post we’re talking about…

…never mind.

The second part is certainly true, but it’s puzzling that Boyd should be regarded as America’s best fighter pilot, given that he was never credited with an E/A shot down. (He may have dinged a MiG in Korea in circumstances beyond the Rules of Engagement, hence never counted.) I’m writing my dissertation on Boyd, and I have several pieces about his work on War in the Modern World. Blue skies! — Dan Ford

“Mayday, mayday! F-22 taking heavy bureucratic fire!”
“Roger that, F-22. Launch tactical memoranda and bring lobbyists on-line.”

We could save billions and put that to use elsewhere in the military budget or just plain ol’ save the money. But they’d rather flush the money away. It makes no sense at all.

Agreed. a McGovernesqe electoral showing in 2012 by the Pubbies would certainly change things.

My personal favorite Bogie flick is the Maltese Falcon. The FAVORITE OF ALL TIME black and white movie is It Happened One Night, (Clark Gable….can’t remember the female star’s name); followed by From Here To Eternity, (a skinny Frank Sinatra in a really stand out role with a classic Borgnine and a sizzling scene on the beach). When my dad used to be stationed at Ft. Polk, LA; every new year’s day they’d play the old classics. Now, you can only see them on DVD’s.