5th generation fighter planes from Gizmodo on Vimeo
I have written several pieces on the ongoing debate and upcoming decisions by the U.S. on the acquisition of additional F-22 Raptor combat aircraft and on both the U.S and other nations’ plans to join in or to continue to participate in the development and purchase of the upcoming F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
Those debates continue. Recently, members of the Dutch Parliament visited both the U.S. Government and the Lockheed Martin F-35 program offices—after visiting the manufacturer of the Saab Gripen NG in Sweden, a possible competitor to the F-35—as the Netherlands nears the decision of which aircraft to purchase as replacements for their F-16 fleet.
Other countries face similar decisions on the replacement of or augmentation to their aging fighter fleets with, hopefully, fifth generation fighter aircraft.
The Obama administration will shortly decide on how many more F-22s to purchase and on a budget for further F-35 development.
Setting aside all the political, budgetary, military and technical arguments for a few minutes, I am pleased to post for your viewing pleasure an awesome video I came across, deveoped by Lockheed Martin. The video presents these two fabulous combat aircraft described by and as seen by a pilot.
The pilot, in this case, is Lockheed Martin’s legendary, senior experimental test pilot Alan Norman.
Enjoy!
If for some reason you can not view the embedded video, please go to http://vimeo.com/3437045
