冷戰時期的軍備競賽，美蘇兩大強權不斷的投入尖端武器的研發，除了核子彈之外，傳統武器也不斷改良，雙方不僅競爭最精良的武器在數量上也是不斷擴充。
一架造價三億五千萬美元的戰鬥機(F-22)，即使是美國也無府負擔龐大的機隊。如果所面對的敵人是游擊隊為主時，那這種戰鬥機又能派得上用場嗎？近年來美國得對外戰爭似乎也只有1991年的波斯灣戰爭與2003年的伊拉克侵略戰爭用得到先進戰機，剛好兩次都是打伊拉克。
1983年 入侵格拉納達（撤僑）
1989年 侵略巴拿馬，捉拿諾瑞加。（首次動用了6架F-117A隱形戰鬥轟炸機）
1990年 利比亞內戰，派遣一支由戰艦、戰鬥機與兩棲作戰部隊，
從地中海駛抵利比亞附實施撤僑行動。
1991年 波斯灣戰爭“沙漠風暴”
1992年 聯合國安理會的決議，美派遣兩萬多人的部隊，參加在索馬利亞的援助行動。
電影「黑鷹計畫」就是描寫這一事件。
1994年 在聯合國授權的國際干預下，海地的阿里斯蒂德重返總統職位。
賽拉耶佛與波士尼亞的維和任務。
1998年 報復恐怖分子對美國駐肯亞和坦尚尼亞大使館的炸彈襲擊，
用"戰斧飛彈"同時襲擊蘇丹和阿富汗境內的目標。
1999年 北約在巴爾幹半島的維和任務。
2001年 入侵阿富汗
2003年 入侵伊拉克
蓋茲取消購買F-22，要計畫要購買較便宜，但可因應較惡劣環境與適應以一般汽油做為燃料的戰機正是充分反映了戰爭型態的變化。(另一方面也要求F-35加速生產，美國計畫購買2,443架)冷戰都結束了那麼久了，美國空軍卻一直都沒有發現其戰略部署上這麼大的盲點。無怪乎Robert Gates 對空軍頗為感冒。
回想JSF標案還是在本世紀初決標的呢！剛上網查了一下是在2001.10.26, 那時似乎也未曾考慮到美國還有許多任務或是盟邦是不需要如此昂貴精良的戰鬥機的。國防需求也是呈Ｍ型化發展！
The Air Force Seeks the F-22's Low-Tech AlternativeBy Mark Thompson / Washington Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009
The Air Force spent years fighting to keep building the
$350 million F-22 fighter, an airplane crammed with so much gee-whiz technology there's a law barring it from being sold to any other nation. But since no other nation is building such a plane to challenge it, the F-22 has become a costly investment with an uncertain payoff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates just killed it. That sent an unmistakable message to the two new top Air Force officials Gates recently appointed, and now the service is seeking 100 slower, lower-flying and far cheaper airplanes — most likely prop-driven — that it can use to kill insurgents today and use to train local pilots — such as Afghans or Iraqis — tomorrow.
The list of requirements for what the Air Force is calling its
Light Attack Armed Reconnaissance plane is fairly basic, and harkens back to the Vietnam-era A-1 Skyraider. It must be capable of flying 900-mile missions at up to 200 miles per hour (compared with up to 1500 mph for the F-22), including at night and poor weather. It will carry guns and rockets, along with a pair of 500-pound bombs, according to an Air Force solicitation issued last month. It will have to fly to and from dirt airfields where the only ground support is fuel. The its two pilots will have warning systems for enemy radars and missiles, an armored cockpit and self-sealing fuel tanks — and ejection seats if those protections fail. It should convert from an attack plane to a trainer by simply removing those weapons.
Planes likely to vie for the contract — slated to begin flying in 2012 —include the Kansas-built Hawker Beechcraft T-6, currently the Air Force's basic trainer, and Brazil's Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano, which the U.S. Navy may buy to support SEAL missions. After being trained on the aircraft, foreign forces could buy such planes for their own use.
This emphasis on down-and-dirty warfare is a real change for the Air Force, which for years has been hyper-focused on building the most sophisticated fighter planes in the world. The military blog Danger Room recently quoted from Air Force studies dating back to 2005 that spoke of the service's "pre-occupation with procurement of the F-22" at the expense of counter-insurgency missions, and its "nasty habit of forgetting the hard-learned lessons of irregular operations." Its Cold War hangover got so bad that Gates complained during a speech to Air Force officers last year that getting the military to fight today's wars was "like pulling teeth."
The Air Force's new top officer has said this low-tech aircraft "is really consistent with Secretary Gates' thinking" in favor of simple weapons that can be bought quickly and perform more than one mission. A rugged and simple warplane that can be flown against insurgents by U.S. pilots who also train foreign pilots in their own language "is a very attractive way to approach this problem," General Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, said in April.
His civilian boss concurs. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley recently said that such a plane "will help build up the security capabilities of partners facing counter-terrorist operations, counter-insurgency operations." Nations like Afghanistan and Iraq "are not going to be able to — and do not have a need to — operate at that higher end of the conflict spectrum," he added. Nor can they afford to — the $350 million used to buy each of the 187 F-22s will pay for a fleet of about 50 of these planned counter-insurgency warplanes.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1918849,00.html
The story of "Air Force Seeks a Cheaper Way to Fly and Fight" was taken from Time magazine. The copyright remains with its original owner. The author of the story and Time Magazine are not involved with the production of this blog.
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