Monday, August 8, 2011

The Lone Gunman or Kung-Fu Master? "Fifth-generation" fighter desktop study

Still preparing the battlefield for my efforts on carving up the silly "So what?" F-35 brief by DMO/NACC.

Today we will look at a briefing by a shadow aero-engineer that doesn't want to show himself. Either he is shy or still employed somewhere. Or could it be he is even a lower profile geek like the publishers of The Lone Gunman from the X-Files (episode; "Unusual Suspects") ?

In any event, he uses the language of aero-engineering. He uses a soft kung-fu that only shows the basic initial desk study of numbers. Even that is hard enough without the proper background. This is about all most people have a hope of understanding anyway.

In looking at the kinds of high end aircraft that will be important to Pacific Rim power, maybe words from Bruce Lee will help.

Question: What are your thoughts when facing an opponent?
Bruce: There is no opponent.
Question: Why is that?
Bruce: Because the word ''l'' does not exist.
A good fight should be like a small play...but played seriously. When the opponent expands, l contract. When he contracts, l expand. And when there is an opportunity... l do not hit...it hits all by itself (shows his fist).
Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it.

The F-35 is the wrong aircraft for the RAAF. The growing threats in the Pacific Rim over its alleged lifetime will out class this pretend "5th generation fighter".

Badly.



(click image to make it larger)


1 comment:

Horde said...

Looks like this person knows their stuff.

Pretty much says it all, really, particularly given the conservatism in analysis - the hallmark of a very experienced Engineer with the knowledge and wisdom that comes with same.

After seeing this, how anyone could believe the F-35 JSF is "a truly 5th Generation Fighter Aircraft" beggars belief.

No doubt some great systems are being developed but "systems do not a Fighter Aircraft make".

Putting a Ferrari Navigation/Audio system into a Gen 2 Lincoln Town Car doesn't make it a Ferrari - nor a Ford GTO, for that matter.

All that these great systems are going to do is give JSF pilots incredible situational awareness as to how and when they are going to meet their maker.

The JSF is in a generational class all its own and its Y-Generation pilots will be left asking that very same question.