08-24-2011, 03:52 PM
Agreed. The threat of the Soviet Union was the mother of invention back then, and drove the development of a plethora of cutting-edge systems and platforms, many of which are still unknown to the public and even industry and military professionals. Some examples:
A5 Vigilante: first fly-by-wire military aircraft, Mach 2 capable, was largely copied by the Soviets when they "developed" the MIG-25.
The F-106A's radar ground-controlled intercept, & AIR-2A Genie nuclear air-to-air rocket intercept concept.
Despite its publicity in the raid on Libya in 1986, the capabilities of the F-111A-F series and FB-111A were never appreciated by the general public or most military planners, but the Soviets often brought them up in international arms talks, insisting on limitations to the number of airframes manufactured and its forward deployment.
The 70's under Carter were a horrible time for the military, and we actually had more military loss of life in 1979 than any year since, including the GWOT. The supersonic B-1A was cancelled by Carter, after the Soviets demanded it. The F-14B was cancelled, even though that engine was exactly what the F-14 needed. These programs had to be revived during the Reagan years, but their delay made them close to obsolescence by the time they had reached Initial Operating Capability.
Meanwhile, the Soviets went to work frantically on the Blackjack copy of the B-1, Su-22, MIG-29, MIG-31 with F-14 avionics & copies of the Phoenix missiles, and their missile programs after acquiring the TDP's from traitors within our own military and government, to refer to when reverse-engineering the F-14A components received from Iran after the Iranian Revolution/major foreign policy fiasco that was.
As a kid growing up in that industry in those days, I heard a lot of cussing, moaning, and disdain for Carter and the Congress. Things changed drastically with Reagan. Anyway, I'd like to see a decentralization of the military procurement process that is doomed in the vortex of the Pentagon and D.C. Let the States compete with regional military cooperative pacts for standardization, and manage the money at the State level, rather than send it off to D.C. to be raped, plundered, defrauded, and abused.
I recently learned that 95% of my State's National Guard budget is controlled by the Pentagon, and we send off about $15 billion per year in Federal Income taxes. We could just keep our .00567% of the Federal Budget here and use it much more responsibly, especially since they print trillions like its monopoly money. D.C. is a cesspool of waste and no accountability of our money.
A5 Vigilante: first fly-by-wire military aircraft, Mach 2 capable, was largely copied by the Soviets when they "developed" the MIG-25.
The F-106A's radar ground-controlled intercept, & AIR-2A Genie nuclear air-to-air rocket intercept concept.
Despite its publicity in the raid on Libya in 1986, the capabilities of the F-111A-F series and FB-111A were never appreciated by the general public or most military planners, but the Soviets often brought them up in international arms talks, insisting on limitations to the number of airframes manufactured and its forward deployment.
The 70's under Carter were a horrible time for the military, and we actually had more military loss of life in 1979 than any year since, including the GWOT. The supersonic B-1A was cancelled by Carter, after the Soviets demanded it. The F-14B was cancelled, even though that engine was exactly what the F-14 needed. These programs had to be revived during the Reagan years, but their delay made them close to obsolescence by the time they had reached Initial Operating Capability.
Meanwhile, the Soviets went to work frantically on the Blackjack copy of the B-1, Su-22, MIG-29, MIG-31 with F-14 avionics & copies of the Phoenix missiles, and their missile programs after acquiring the TDP's from traitors within our own military and government, to refer to when reverse-engineering the F-14A components received from Iran after the Iranian Revolution/major foreign policy fiasco that was.
As a kid growing up in that industry in those days, I heard a lot of cussing, moaning, and disdain for Carter and the Congress. Things changed drastically with Reagan. Anyway, I'd like to see a decentralization of the military procurement process that is doomed in the vortex of the Pentagon and D.C. Let the States compete with regional military cooperative pacts for standardization, and manage the money at the State level, rather than send it off to D.C. to be raped, plundered, defrauded, and abused.
I recently learned that 95% of my State's National Guard budget is controlled by the Pentagon, and we send off about $15 billion per year in Federal Income taxes. We could just keep our .00567% of the Federal Budget here and use it much more responsibly, especially since they print trillions like its monopoly money. D.C. is a cesspool of waste and no accountability of our money.