T-38 shoots down F-22

Recently, in a training exercise, a T-38 trainer shot down a F-22. This is a pretty impressive occurrence. I read the story on gizmodo, and then, doing something that I usually avoid, I read some comments. And of course, one of them pissed me off enough to have to write something back. So here it is:

His Comment:

The US does not face any substantial threat in the air when it comes to the technological aspect of the aircraft to warrant investment in the F-22.

The US avionics is miles ahead of any of its prospective rivals in the sky. In today's battle skill coupled with Avionics win. The US pilots are very well trained and are up there second maybe only to the Israelis.

That coupled with the sheer number of aircraft that US can put in the air by means of its carrier fleets negates any advantage the enemy has (Except maybe China, which can also play the game of attrition).

F-22 is an overkill and an extreme strain on budget. Its like you wanna race with a drag race car when the competition is driving ford Taurus :) You can just buy an Aston Martin instead and still run circles around them and it will be cheaper.

My Comment:

Just want to point out that while the F-22 is certainly expensive, there are legitimate threats to US air-superiority.

You need to get your facts straight. It's not a Taurus against a drag car, more of a Taurus against a Fusion. These days, the F-16 and F-15 are old, and we are learning that the rest of the world has caught up. In a number of recent exercises it was found that the F-15/F-16/F/A-18 are all looking at kill ratios of maybe 3-1 against gen 4.5, upgraded gen 4 and in some cases gen 3.5 airframes, depending on missiles, jamming equipment etc.

What you point out about the state of the world was true, in 1999. You are still holding onto an outdated world view, one which was popular and largely correct post-Cold War, but is now simply wrong. Russia is increasingly militaristic, and a further push by NATO into Eastern Europe could spark limited conflict. However, by far and away the greatest threat is China. Now the third largest air-force in the world, they are rapidly building a large number of gen 4.5 airframes, both based on Chinese designs and Russian designs. The entire purpose of their current military expansion is to counter US naval and air power in a possible confrontation over Taiwan. Seemingly, you just did not know about this. Which is fine, but don't then go spouting off about something you dont understand.

So sure, the F-22 is expensive, and we probably dont need 500 of them, but we do need to retain an edge in air-superiority. If that means deterring China from invading Taiwan and engaging the US in war, I would say it is a worthwhile expenditure.