Pentagon Already Planning a F-35 Replacement That Will Cost Three Times as Much

Good to know efforts to bankrupt the Empire will only intensify

Actually the F-35 costs considerably more than just $100 million when program R&D is taken into account, but no doubt the $300 million PCA (if it ever comes into existence) cost is being similarly lowballed

A next-generation air superiority jet for the U.S. Air Force, known by the service as Penetrating Counter Air, could cost about $300 million in 2018 dollars per plane, the Congressional Budget Office states in a new study.

At that price, PCA would be more than three times that of the average F-35A jet, which is set at about $94 million to capture both the expense of early production lots and the decline in cost as the production rate increases, according the report, which predicts the cost of replacing the Air Force’s aircraft inventory from now until 2050.

This sum, while not an official cost estimate from the Pentagon, represents the first time a government entity has weighed in on the potential price tag for PCA.

The CBO estimates the Air Force will need 414 PCA aircraft to replace existing F-15C/Ds and F-22s, the Air Force’s current fighters geared toward air-to-air combat. It also surmises that the first aircraft will enter service in 2030, based on the service’s stated desire to begin fielding PCA around that time frame.

The reason for the whopping price tag?

Part of it comes down to the cost of new technology.

“The PCA aircraft would probably have a greater range and payload, as well as improved stealth and sensor capabilities, than today’s F-22; those characteristics would help it operate in the presence of the high-end air defenses that DoD believes China, Russia, and other potential adversaries may have in the future,” the CBO states.

The other reason comes down to history.

The Air Force doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to producing stealth aircraft at the low costs initially envisioned by leadership. Both the B-2 and F-22 programs were truncated in part due to the high price per plane — which in turn contributed to the production rate never accelerating to the point where unit costs begin to decrease. The early years of the F-35 program were also marred by a series of cost overruns that eventually prompted the Pentagon to restructure it.

“Containing costs for the PCA aircraft may be similarly difficult,” the report states.

https://www.checkpointasia.net/pentagon-already-planning-a-f-35-replacement-that-will-cost-three-times-as-much/

Russia envisions a multipolar ‘New World Order’ as sun sets on America’s unipolar moment

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that new centers of global power are working to build a multipolar system to replace US-led Western hegemony. All things considered, Washington should be very relieved.

In comments that were widely ignored in the Western mainstream media, Russia’s veteran diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, dropped a bombshell last week, declaring the demise of “the Western liberal model of development,” which he said is “losing its attractiveness and is no more viewed as a perfect model for all.”

The diminishing enthusiasm over Washington’s plan for a ‘new world order’, a blueprint for global domination that was mentioned by former US President George H. W. Bush in 1991, is not just confined to non-Western countries. Citizens of the Western hemisphere are also increasingly skeptical about Washington’s unilateral ambitions, Lavrov noted.

Former Western leaders, like Woodrow Wilson, and later, Winston Churchill, also flirted with the idea of a new world order. However, it wasn’t until the collapse of the Soviet Union, America’s ideological arch enemy, that the plan for global domination, with the United States as the supreme authority, grabbed the imagination of Washington policymakers. As the late neoconservative Charles Krauthammer bluntly and not a little arrogantly explained, “The immediate post-Cold War world is not multipolar. It is unipolar. The center of world power is the unchallenged superpower, the United States, attended by its Western allies.”

Washington, drunk from a powerful cocktail of exceptionalism and global hyper power, set out to recreate the planet in its own wonderful image. What could possibly go wrong?

A global empire is born

America’s dream of establishing a new world order, which seems to be just a euphemism for ‘global empire’, required a major offensive from multiple sources: from the patriotic and propagandist studios of the mainstream media and Hollywood, to the sprawling US military-industrial complex, to the Federal Reserve, which enjoyed – and still enjoys – fiat currency dominion as many global transactions continue to be done in US dollars.

Indeed, the willingness of the United States to bring its economic power to bear against friends and enemies alike has been a disturbing trend of late. Presently, Washington is attempting to instigate civil disorder and potentially regime change in countries like Venezuela and Iran – two members of OPEC – by the imposition of severe sanctions. The very same methods were used in the past prior to full-blown military conflict in places like Iraq, Libya and Syria.

What is motivating Washington to employ such brutal methods in the first place? The answer comes down to a simple matter of power, greed, and the imposition of US dominance across the planet. In fact, much of the hostility – not to mention outrageous conspiracy theories – aimed at Russia, for example, could be explained by purely economic factors, as I previously argued here. The Trump administration actually threatened fellow NATO ally Germany with sanctions over its cooperation with Russia in the ambitious Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The blatant interference in the affairs of other countries, however, is not limited to Russian oil and gas exports.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/456824-multipolar-world-order-us-russia/

After Decades of Refusing Egypt the F-15, US Demands Cairo Terminate Plans to Acquire Russia’s Su-35

In response to Egypt’s plans to modernise its Air Force with acquisition of an estimated two dozen Russian Su-35 ‘4++ generation’ air superiority fighters, the United States has issued a blunt warning that such purchases would result in American economic sanctions against Cairo.

Officials stated regarding the purchase: “In terms of the expanding Russian influence in the region, that’s obviously something which we are quite concerned. We don’t see a lot of material benefits to engagements with the Russians… We just would encourage the Egyptians to turn more toward the West, toward the United States.”

This was closely followed by a statement from State Secretary Mike Pompeo, who said regarding the sale: “We have made clear that systems were to be purchased that… would require sanctions on the regime,” Pompeo told the Senate Committee on Appropriations. “We have received assurances from them, they understand that, and I am very hopeful they will decide not to move forward with that acquisition.”

Egypt has extensively modernised its military capabilities since the coming to power of a new administration in 2013, which overthrew a strongly Western aligned Islamist government that year. The overthrow led the U.S. to freeze arms shipments to the country, which in turn was a considerable factor influencing Cairo to turn away from Washington for future arms purchases.

However, a history of extensive and in the view of many excessive restrictions on American arms sales to Egypt were also reportedly at play in forcing Egypt away from American weapons – in particular jet aircraft.

Since abandoning its defence ties to the Soviet Union under President Anwar Sadat in the mid 1970s Egypt has repeatedly sought to acquire high end air superiority fighters – namely the American F-15 Eagle. While these aircraft were sold to Saudi Arabia and Israel in large numbers however, Egypt was restricted to purchasing the cheaper and lighter jets such as the F-16 – ensuring a balance of power which favoured the Western Bloc’s more reliable clients.

Furthermore, Egypt was the only major operator of the F-16 denied modern AIM-120 air to air missiles – meaning its aircraft would face an overwhelming disadvantage in combat with those of any other U.S. client.

https://russia-insider.com/en/after-decades-refusing-egypt-f-15-us-demands-cairo-terminate-plans-acquire-russias-su-35/ri26798

>>6214904

Never stick your dick in crazy!

>>6215006

I'm gen X and have fucked plenty of crazy.

I stand by my statement

>>6215085

predictable