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Re:The SR-71 Spy Plane Was So Fast, It Outran Every Missile ... by dragonwriter on Wednesday March 27, 2019 @03:29PM (#19504984)
> The F-35 is a giant weird beast because it's massively multi-mission

No, it's multimission because new airframe types for manned combat aircraft that could meet evolving demands were becoming giant weird beasts and getting exponentially more expensive (something that typically happens with classes of systems as they become unviable) anyway, and doing one airframe for almost every conceivable role was envisioned as a means of containing costs.

Re:The SR-71 Spy Plane Was So Fast, It Outran Every Missile ... by lallysingh on Wednesday March 27, 2019 @03:42PM (#19505116)
Containing costs -> multi mission -> giant weird beast. I don't think we disagree.

Still, I think the point about it being a backstop to unmanned aerial assets stands. I don't know if it needs to be optimized for any single mission when it's likely to be a worse choice than one of those assets.

Re:The SR-71 Spy Plane Was So Fast, It Outran Every Missile ... by Anarch157a on Wednesday March 27, 2019 @04:55PM (#19505932)
> doing one airframe for almost every conceivable role was envisioned as a means of containing costs.

Didn't they learn from the Phantom that one airframe for all tasks simply doesn't work ?

Re:The SR-71 Spy Plane Was So Fast, It Outran Every Missile ... by aidenn0 on Wednesday March 27, 2019 @05:18PM (#19506141)
No.