US Defence related thread

[AZ_HighCountry]

Yes, Hegseth was the one who sold the Iran war to Trump as an easy and quick victory, like Venezuela, and who pressured and fired officials like this general, who offered different assessments.

Else Trump can himself take the blame for this fiasco.

Irrelevant.

The shortages were reported before Iran War 2 started. Which, as Solarwarden points out, started back during the Biden administration transferring weapons to Ukraine as fast as they could send them over without any mechanisms in place to replenish.

I warned of this not only here but another forum as well.

 

[F-22Raptor]

F-22 directs Collaborative Combat Aircraft in airborne tactical-control demonstration​

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) --
The Department of the Air Force executed airborne tactical command and in-flight control of a YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft from an F-22 Raptor earlier this month, advancing efforts to rapidly develop, evaluate and deliver mission-autonomy capabilities to the warfighter.

During the demonstration, an F-22 pilot served as an airborne “quarterback,” issuing high-level tactical directives to a single YFQ-44A. The aircraft’s onboard autonomy software interpreted and executed those directives in real time, conducting dynamic flight maneuvers and simulated combat tasks.

“This achievement demonstrates what is possible when we are aligned with industry on a shared imperative: delivering capability to the warfighter at unprecedented speed,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “We are driving urgency into every part of acquisition from rapid integration and flight learning to disciplined assessment, so we can turn promising technology into combat capability at the pace the threat demands.”

The event brought together personnel from the 412th Test Wing, 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, 309th Software Engineering Group, Experimental Operations Unit, F-22 System Program Office and the CCA Software Autonomy and Teaming Branch.

The Department will use data from this test milestone to inform continued software integration, developmental testing and the Air Force’s future CCA concepts.

“This flight shows the power of crewed-uncrewed teaming and the advantage it provides our warfighters,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach. “We must test often, learn fast and give commanders what they need, when they need it.”

The CCA program is part of a broader Department of the Air Force effort to deliver affordable, adaptable and combat-ready capability at speed. The Air Force intends to have 500 combat-ready, semi-autonomous systems by 2032, with an overall fleet size of 1000 that will extend reach, awareness and survivability of American airpower in contested environments.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4627579/f-22-directs-collaborative-combat-aircraft-in-airborne-tactical-control-demonst/

F-22 has integrated with YFQ-44 CCA and delegated combat tasks. Big milestone

 

[KAL-EL]

F-22 directs Collaborative Combat Aircraft in airborne tactical-control demonstration​

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) --
The Department of the Air Force executed airborne tactical command and in-flight control of a YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft from an F-22 Raptor earlier this month, advancing efforts to rapidly develop, evaluate and deliver mission-autonomy capabilities to the warfighter.

During the demonstration, an F-22 pilot served as an airborne “quarterback,” issuing high-level tactical directives to a single YFQ-44A. The aircraft’s onboard autonomy software interpreted and executed those directives in real time, conducting dynamic flight maneuvers and simulated combat tasks.

“This achievement demonstrates what is possible when we are aligned with industry on a shared imperative: delivering capability to the warfighter at unprecedented speed,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “We are driving urgency into every part of acquisition from rapid integration and flight learning to disciplined assessment, so we can turn promising technology into combat capability at the pace the threat demands.”

The event brought together personnel from the 412th Test Wing, 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, 309th Software Engineering Group, Experimental Operations Unit, F-22 System Program Office and the CCA Software Autonomy and Teaming Branch.

The Department will use data from this test milestone to inform continued software integration, developmental testing and the Air Force’s future CCA concepts.

“This flight shows the power of crewed-uncrewed teaming and the advantage it provides our warfighters,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach. “We must test often, learn fast and give commanders what they need, when they need it.”

The CCA program is part of a broader Department of the Air Force effort to deliver affordable, adaptable and combat-ready capability at speed. The Air Force intends to have 500 combat-ready, semi-autonomous systems by 2032, with an overall fleet size of 1000 that will extend reach, awareness and survivability of American airpower in contested environments.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4627579/f-22-directs-collaborative-combat-aircraft-in-airborne-tactical-control-demonst/

F-22 has integrated with YFQ-44 CCA and delegated combat tasks. Big milestone

Absolutely incredible that this plane is almost three decades old

 

[SolarWarden]

Absolutely incredible that this plane is almost three decades old

F- Dick Cheney for cutting the fleet to 187. A good number would have been 300 F-22's with 40 of them being for training, air shows and weapons/technology testing.

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

F- Dick Cheney for cutting the fleet to 187. A good number would have been 300 F-22's with 40 of them being for training, air shows and weapons/technology testing.

Cheney did not cut the fleet to 187. What he did do was delay the production and reduce the annual number produced from 72 to 48. The Soviet threat was receding, budget pressures on the DOD, and existing aircraft could remain in service longer.

It was former SecDef Robert Gates who capped the fleet at 187. This was in 2009 under the Obama administration. The factors that led to the decision included cost, the F-35 program was underway and deemed a cheaper alternative, the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars demanded capabilities not suited to the F-22 mission, and lastly, Gates saw, or thought he saw, threats that were different from what the F-22 was developed to address.

So, in reality, you can blame both Cheney and Gates for this.