Re: Stealth and Countermeasures...

To clarify what the US is having problems with the F-22 in regards to a
radar inferometer.  It is the radar that is the problem.  It is making
an extended range AMRAAM that will fit into the F-22's internal weapons
bays.  SU-27's don't have internal weapons bays so they aren't going to
have that problem...

IR technology is out of the infant stage and is evolving exponentially.
Each new generation IR seaker is much better then the previous.  This
means that it is becoming much more difficult to supress enough of the
IR sensor so that the rest can be lost out in ground clutter.

Your first problem is that the USN can't afford 15,000 TLAM's to go
after all of those MIG's.  Your second problem is that China is a
continental power.  They can easily grab island next to mainland
including Tiawan.  They don't need carriers for power projection.

Battleships don't have much to fear from ASM's.  They were design to
survive and still be operational after direct hits from heavy and supper
heavy guns.  The destructive forces of these guns is far more then
modern crusise missiles.  A modern battleship would shrug off harpoons.
Unless your using ballistic missiles or nukes, there not much you can do
from the shore to a battleship...

A 6" gun (155 mm) does not have more range then a 16" gun.  If you take
the extened range guided projectile technology and develop a 16" shell
for it, you will have a much longer range weapon.

Typical response time far CAS when they are on station is in minutes.
Gun fire support is in seconds.  Doesn't seem like much of a difference
until it is your rearend hangout...  By the way, the typical combat load
flown by U.S. Marine  Harriers in Serbia was 2000 kg of ordance.
MIG-21's typically carry 2,500 kg of ordance.  The enhanced versions
will carry more.

Satalites and RPV's work great for FO's.

The problem is more then just the President.  The purpose of the
military is to defend the US.  It is not for buying the neatest toys,
and having the largest branch of the armed forces.  That is something
that very easily forgotten in peacetime by the generals and admirals...

Actually, it is just this simple.  We miss spent a lot of money so we
don't have a balanced and flexible force structure.

IAS