It used to be that stealth aircraft were supposed to be the "silver
bullet"
force that knocked down the enemy air defenses in the opening days of
a conflict, so that the cheaper, less-stealthy platforms could follow
up
and do their thing.

Now it looks like the USAF wants an all-silver-bullet force, which is
going
to cause the USAF to shrivel up into a purely air combat and
interdiction
force, while Army UCAV's and attack helos take over the CAS role.

This is a bad idea. There are many missions, such as air-sovereignty
and
air strikes against insurgents, that don't require stealth, and will
only
pile up wear and tear on those expensive stealthy airframes.

The USAF should consider buying more F-16's to fulfill these roles at
a
lower cost than the F-35. I doubt they will though.

Agree/Disagree?