The thing the leaders of the Navy and Air Force (all of whom are fighter pilots) fear the most is not surface-to-air missiles or advanced Russian fighter jets, but unmanned aerial vehicles ("drones"). They resisted taking them at all until lobbyists for General Atomics finally swayed enough staffers on the right committees to fund the things whether the services wanted them or not. And they'll keep inventing ridiculous kludges like this one until the threat subsides or Congress converts NASA into a dedicated UAV force.
![dead-horse[1]](http://wonkville.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dead-horse1.gif)
Ironically…
Ah, so that's what's driving Pentagon decisions.
Hipsters. I knew it.
Needs moar zeppelins.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/VFtqFMzhsKP16/giphy.gif" width="250">
Steampunk Air Force!!!!!
Absolutely!
<img src="http://img09.deviantart.net/6b50/i/2015/256/5/8/neil_sees__a_steampunk_marine_air_force_by_spnaughtylus-d99gymi.jpg" width="300">
One Trillion Dollars, and we've ended up with a 1950's era strategic bomber as back up close air support.
That's some SNAFU, that SNAFU-22
The thing the leaders of the Navy and Air Force (all of whom are fighter pilots) fear the most is not surface-to-air missiles or advanced Russian fighter jets, but unmanned aerial vehicles ("drones"). They resisted taking them at all until lobbyists for General Atomics finally swayed enough staffers on the right committees to fund the things whether the services wanted them or not. And they'll keep inventing ridiculous kludges like this one until the threat subsides or Congress converts NASA into a dedicated UAV force.