Friday, March 11, 2016

Did Arthur C. Clarke Foretell the F-35 Fiasco Sixty Years Ago?


The legendary science-fiction writer, Arthur C. Clark, wrote a short story entitled "Superiority" in 1953. Now it's making the rounds of the aviation and defence communities struggling with the procurement Maelstrom that is today's F-35 stealth bomber.

Aviation Week's Bill Sweetman explores how Superiority eerily mirrors the same decision-making flaws of today.

Clarke's work is a delightful tale of how Nemesis seems to always follow Hubris. Links to the short story and Sweetman's article are above.

Update: the U.S. Navy has announced a request for funding to buy additional F-18 Super Hornets. Apparently the biggest operator of the F-18 knows it still has legs.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We watched a movie the other night about Gary Powers who was shot down over the then USSR.
At 72,000 ft he was considered impossible to be shot down!
We now have , untested in combat, stealth aircraft that are said to be unstoppable!
Been there; got a t shirt.