The U.S. Military’s Aircraft Are Too Old To Win a War?

[rangerrebew]

March 14, 2021

The U.S. Military’s Aircraft Are Too Old To Win a War?

If this scenario were to come to pass, then U.S. airpower would be unable to cope.
by Michael Peck

Here’s What You Need to Remember: The scenario goes like this: In 2030, Russia invades the Baltic States. As the U.S. sends forces to Europe, China seizes the opportunity to seize disputed islands in the South China Sea. American airpower flies to the rescue, only to discover that sophisticated Russian and Chinese fighters and anti-aircraft defenses have rendered the skies too deadly for older American planes to conduct missions.

If this scenario were to come to pass, then U.S. airpower would be unable to cope. Too many aircraft are old, have too small a range and payload, and can’t operate in tough air defense environments. One solution? Develop a sixth-generation stealth aircraft that essentially combines the air combat capability of an F-22 fighter with the electronic attack capability of an EA-18G Growler jamming aircraft.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/us-military%E2%80%99s-aircraft-are-too-old-win-war-180170

[PeteS in CA]

From soon after Kittyhawk into the 60s and 70s military aircraft advanced by successive models, each going from entering to leaving front-line service in a decade or less. Starting in the late 50s and becoming the norm from the 70s onward, platforms came into service that were flexible enough to stay in service through successive generations of upgrades. So, yeah. The B-52, B-1, A-10, F-15, F-16, F-18, C-130, C-5, etc. platforms are old, but their current models are much more capable than the versions that first entered service.