快猫短视频

ADVANCED technologies critical to the success of America鈥檚 new Joint Strike
Fighter aircraft may not be ready for action before the plane enters service,
say critics. And they question whether the fighter鈥攄ue to be delivered in
2009鈥攚ill have any tactical role, as fast-developing uncrewed aircraft
could by then have made risky piloted combat redundant.

Last week, the Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a $200 billion
contract to build the new multitasking supersonic fighter, leaving a rival
Boeing team bitterly disappointed. The JSF will be a stealthy jet designed to
slip past defences and attack ground targets. A short take-off variant, intended
for the US Marines, will land vertically, like a Harrier. All versions will
supposedly incorporate new stealth technologies that will make them difficult
for enemy radars and infrared sensors to detect. They may also use 鈥渄irected
energy鈥� weapons to attack enemy electronic systems.

But the US spending watchdog, the General Accounting Office, last week warned
that none of the 鈥渃ritical technologies鈥� needed for the fighter are well enough
developed to justify awarding the contract. The GAO believes costs are likely to
escalate as Lockheed Martin runs into problems developing the new technologies
and passes those costs on to the government.

Some experts warn that the JSF is unlikely to be delivered on time and could
soon be made obsolete by Boeing鈥檚 programme to build uncrewed combat aerial
vehicles (UCAVs)鈥攁rmed but pilotless robotic planes
(快猫短视频, 13 October, p 4).

Others question whether the fighter would be suitable for conflicts like the
current one in Afghanistan. UCAVs might be better, says Bob Martinage, a defence
analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington-based
think tank.

鈥淯CAVs will be far more capable than manned airplanes,鈥� agrees Paul Nisbet, a
defence analyst with JSA Research in Rhode Island. Besides being safer, UCAVs
should also outperform piloted craft, yet be smaller and cheaper to produce.