Jay Honeck wrote in
:

Worth noting that both the F-22 and the F-35 (and the Eurofighter for
that matter) have 40-year design lives, though they'll all probably
be scrapped for UAVs long before.

This from AvWeb today:
************************************************** *********************
******** AIR FORCE CUTTING PILOT TRAINING
The U.S. Air Force will train about 925 new pilots in 2008, a decrease
of about 12 percent from the 1,100 that will graduate this year, the
Air Force Times is reporting. The Times says there will be a slight
bump in trainees in 2009 to about 1025 that is expected to remain
constant for several years. The newspaper says the reduction is
directly related to the decline in the number of aircraft and will be
particularly felt in the fighter pilot ranks. "If the Air Force did
not slow down pilot production, the service's fighter squadrons would
be overwhelmed by first-assignment pilots who could not get adequate
training because there wouldn't be enough jets or instructors," the
newspaper reported.
************************************************** *********************
******** They go on to say that 200 pilots have already been
reassigned to other duties, simply because we have no aircraft for
them to fly.

This train of events reinforces your point (USAF going to UAVs) as
well as the point that we should have stuck with older, less expensive
designs.


What, no mindless POV of your own?


Bertie