Word: 16s
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...time, Air Force generals thought they had the answer to a pilot's prayer. Using on-board computers, the Low Altitude Navigation, Targeting Infra-Red Night system, known as LANTIRN, was touted as the new technology that could guide pilots of F-16s and A-10s close to the ground during bad weather or at night. Then, while helping U.S. aces dodge hills and other obstacles, LANTIRN would spot enemy targets and automatically program air-to-ground missiles on an instantaneous search-and-destroy mission. To be sure, the LANTIRN program's price tag was $1 billion...
Enter congressional politics. The Senate last year eliminated funding for the A10, using the money instead for more F-16s, a faster plane that the Air Force favors but which is not suited to close air support. (It is built in Texas, home state of Armed Services Committee Chairman Tower.) But the House voted to keep the A-10 alive. Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Addabbo of New York, who is usually eager to cut military spending, is a strong proponent of the plane. (It is built on Long Island, within commuting distance of his home district...
...with an overall, coherent defense strategy that would at least justify the staggering costs. Without a national strategy, Weinberger cannot know if, say, the Navy will need 600 ships by 1990 or if the Air Force is asking for the right mix of expensive F-15s and cheaper F-16s. Even a hard-liner like Melvin Laird, who served as Secretary of Defense for Richard Nixon, questions the sense behind the vast sums. "The Navy is going wild by making all these commitments on ships," Laird says. "It hasn't been proved to me that you need a Navy...
...delivery of U.S.-built F-16s: Pakistan's military inventory is of Korean War vintage. We are not producers of military hardware, and we cannot afford to go out every two or three years and buy new equipment. We have to look ahead for 20 years. We are very grateful to President Reagan. When we got the offer of F-16s, we jumped. With this aircraft, our borders, which are now threatened by the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, will be somewhat secure. Of course, 40 planes cannot make all the difference, but the presence of a superior aircraft gives...
...pact that Pakistan has proposed. While denying aggressive intentions, the two countries are on the threshold of a fierce arms race. India has ordered 40 of France's most advanced jet fighter, the Mirage 2000; Pakistan is about to receive the same number of F-16s from...