Ever since I attended an air show when I was young, I’ve been fascinated with military aircraft.   While I regret not following aircraft development as closely as I used to, yesterday while reading Patrick Appel, filling in for Andrew Sullivan, I learned something new: the Pentagon has a new plane, the F-35 Lightning.

The stealth-technology-equipped F-35 comes in three flavors normal runway takeoff and landing, short takeoff and vertical landing (like the Harrier), and aircraft carrier takeoff and landing and is a little brother to the stealthy F-22 Raptor.

Scheduled to enter service in 2011, the F-35 is aimed at replacing the Air Force’s F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Marines’ AV-8A Harrier and aimed at complementing the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

The name “Lightning” is in honor of Lockheed Martin’s World War II fighter, the P-38 Lightning.

The F-35 Lightning:

The F-22:

In my excitement to see some awesome new military hardware, I did a little more poking around, and I learned the F-117 was sadly retired in April.   The F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter along with the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber are two of the most kick-ass aircraft ever developed.   The former is an angular harbinger of doom; the latter is an uber-sleek, bat-like phantom of the skies.

The F-117:

The B-2:

A few more F-35 views:

F-16, F-35, F-22 comparison:

And finally, an interesting tidbit about the development of the F-35:

[The F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)] evolved to an international co-development program. The United Kingdom, Italy, The Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Australia and Turkey have formally joined the U.S. and contributed money toward the program. These partners are either NATO countries and/or close US allies, and peacekeeping and war fighting more recently have been done by coalitions. The reason to have all of these countries in co-development with the US is that there is currently a big difference in the type of equipment that they fly. Although some countries fly equipment similar to the US’s, others fly equipment that is less capable. With JSF, they can all fly the same airplane; as a coalition, they can all be the same. With this in mind, the U.S. invited these eight countries to participate in developing the airplanes. That is to say, they are not just participants to buy the airplanes. They will participate in the design, build, and test of the airplanes. This is a marked difference from past programs.

(Image credits: F-35 comparison and F-35 three-view from Aerospaceweb.org; all other photos from Wikimedia and the United States Air Force in the public domain)

Designed by: Saul Bass
Year: 1959

In talking about President-elect Barack Obama’s nomination of retired General Eric Shinseki to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, James Fallows at The Atlantic said this:

Whenever he talks about this selection, Obama (plus his lieutenants) can describe it completely, sufficiently, and strictly in the most bipartisan high-road terms. They have selected a wounded combat veteran; a proven military leader and manager; a model of personal dignity and nonpartisan probity: an unimpeachable choice. Symbolic elements? If people want them, they can work with Shinseki’s status as (to my recollection at the moment) the first Asian-American in a military-related cabinet position, not to mention a Japanese-American honored for lifelong military service on Pearl Harbor Day.

As for the other symbolic element that Obama is elevating the man who was right, when Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney, et al were so catastrophically wrong that is something that neither Obama nor anyone around him need say out loud, ever. The nomination is like a hyper-precision missile, or what is known in politics as a “dog whistle.” The people for whom this is a complete slap in the face don’t need to be told that. They know and know that others know it too. So do the people for whom it is vindication. And all without Obama descending for one second from his bring-us-together higher plane.

Well said, and classic Obama style: taking the high road while being oh-so sly about it.

After I said I was thankful for 20 January 2009, a former professor of mine sent me a link to a National Review article by Mona Charen. Whether from personal ignorance and total dismissal of anything positive or from skewed media and lack of coverage, I didn’t know this admirable thing about President Bush:

From the beginning of his administration, President Bush has pushed for more aid to Africa. Motivated perhaps by his deeply felt Christian faith (relieving poverty in Africa has become a major charitable push among evangelicals), the president has pressed for greater aid to Africa across the board. The original PEPFAR legislation (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which passed in 2003, was the largest single health investment by any government ever ($15 billion). At the time the initiative was launched, only about 50,000 sub-Saharan Africans were receiving antiretroviral treatment for AIDS. Today, 1.7 million people in the region, as well as tens of thousands more around the globe, are receiving such treatment. PEPFAR has also funded efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the AIDS virus, provided compassionate care to the sick and dying, and cared for 5 million orphans. One aspect of the program has been to reduce the stigma of the AIDS diagnosis in Africa.

In July of this year, the president requested that funding for PEPFAR be doubled to $30 billion. The new funding will be used to train 140,000 new health-care workers. It would also address other illnesses, like tuberculosis, that often complicate AIDS.

The president also backed a malaria initiative that has provided an estimated 25 million Africans with nets, spraying, and other prevention and treatment options. Separate from the AIDS funds, the president has tripled development assistance and humanitarian aid to Africa since taking office.

This victory and accomplishment for President Bush is, sadly, lost amongst his administration’s many failures and controversies.   I am disappointed I didn’t know this.   As my professor pointed out, “he’s not all bad.”   President Bush certainly deserves some well-deserved credit here.

(Nod: DemConWatch)

I’m a little late, but it’s too good not to post it anyway.   My parents were watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, and:

I was within listening distance of the TV and exclamed, “ah, they got rickrolled.”   I had to explain what rickrolling is.   How awesome was the parade, though.   All of America got rickrolled by a live Rick Astley.

I still love this clip, too John McCain gets Barackrolled: