QOTW: Quality or Quantity?
VS. ( Sorry about the haphazard updates lately. Summer is here, the weather is too nice, and great outdoors beckons. ) My last Question of the Week (or so) looked at the potential for using a bomber platform as an air-superiority asset. A resounding 64% of you think I might need mental health counseling for even asking the question Fair enough. This week (or so)'s question revolves around the need to balance numbers with capability. In most cases with fighter aircraft, you get what you pay for. Top-notch fighters like the F-22 earn their "air-superiority" classification thanks to their speed, agility, and powerful sensor suite. The ability to out-run, out-maneuver, and out-shoot an opponent does not come cheap, however. The F-22 was an incredibly expensive aircraft to develop and build, and it has more than triple the cost-per-flight-hour (CPFH) of the F-16C . Needless to say, during the post-Cold War era of declining defense budgets,...