As bad as I feel for the pilot and the insanity he experienced from such a experience, I'm also completely pissed that we as tax payers have to fund bullshit like this. The military industrial complex is no joke. Anyone who gives a damn can read a very brief summary here:

[en.wikipedia.org]

War is good business, people. Though I doubt that this subject will generate 800+ comments... Nope. TV pranks are far more important than people getting rich off of killing and maiming other people.

This is one of the rare occasions where I saw something on TV before I saw it on the Internet. Time to replace our aging fighters with some F-22's.

@johnnyabnormal: I'm outside US and damn we wonder why americans don't argue this everyday. It way too much money on this business.

@johnnyabnormal: We blow so much money on weapons...Shit, the cost of one of these planes could of put my entire college class through all four years, and grad school. Regardless of how cool these planes, or any other military hardware are, it pisses me off too.

lefty loosey, righty tighty

come on people, its not that hard

I am glad the pilot is still alive. Everyone is focused on the stupid plane. It seems machine now are more important than people.

@johnnyabnormal: Well the problem here is, your talking about a plane that was bought for a war we never fought. The F15 was a COLD WAR era plane built to shoot down Soviet Bear bombers. The simple fact was at that time we ALL spent gobs of money (and I mean all, EU nations where JUST as guilty then) under the idea that we as a world would be smart enough to not fight a nuclear WWIII but after a brief nuclear exchange would fight a conventional arms war, where these would be needed.

What has happened in the last 20 years though, is the US has not stopped themselves from gearing up for a WWIII. Its a problem of the Administration still thinking like the ones of Regan Carter Ford Nixon etc.

The EU nations where able to change this line of thought, they where bleeding themselves dry keeping their nations in competition for their respective sides. And Russia DID bleed themselves dry, so they couldnt keep their purchases up. The US though could and thats where we are now.

The only way your going to change the way of thought going on, is for the old guard who is STILL in charge since the Regan era, to up and die on us, and their subordinates to not keep up the status quo. People dont realize this but Bush Jrs cabinate was made up of almost half his fathers, which in turn was most of his former bosses. Clinton as well was just as bad, but he figured out how to balance it out and made a few very controversial cuts in military spending such as on the Osprey.

Until that time though, the military industry is just going to make more and more money. And the threat remains, if we DO cut that funding, those are thousands of jobs we will also be cutting meaning more unemployment, and a even further push into a recession. Its not a easy balancing act to pull off.

Man, this is just what Boeing needs right now.

The fleet is aging. It is older than the F-16 and the F-22 is replacing the F-15 in the active duty fleet.

As far as the whining about the military industrial complex, one F-15 accident (as dramatic as this is) doesn't prove that there is a problem in the entire system. Lighten up. These are something like 35 year old airframes that routinely take 5-8+ gs. Stuff breaks. How many sorties go off without a hitch that we don't hear about?

As far as the change from a Cold War mentality to the modern situation, we did that. In the 90s things in the military changed dramatically. We are currently designing the next ...

Ah, forget it. No one is going to listen to a comment on a tech blog.

It's really cushy to bitch against military spending while you enjoy its protection. Think for a moment, if you want (you don't HAVE to, you are that well protected) what your lives would have been under Hitler, Stalin or Saddam (or even Kim Il Sung or Castro) if the US hadn't spent all it has in defense. The US beat the Soviet Union with industrial and economic might BACKED with military power. Look at the nations under the ex-Soviet boot and compare. Would it have been possible to keep them at bay without Cold War spending?
Europe? Ha! They enjoy a free ride on the US's coattails. Of course they don't spend as much: they have the protection of the US AND get to sneer at us. The French would be speaking german if it hadn't been for the US and England.
About those military companies making money: What's the problem? They have employees. Those employees go to the supermarket and the supermarket employs you. Closed circle.

@AhnyerKeester: You will be surprised to the people who write to us, which include Boeing, NASA, LMCO and other aerospace companies.

@puttputt: I'm glad he's ok too..brass ball too for kicking in the afterburners to stop the spin, especially while leaving a vaporized trail of jet fuel behind him, much less land. Israeli pilots are quite skilled...

@AhnyerKeester: I agree. I think the grounding of the entire F15 fleet was a neccessary safety procaution to check for wear and stress fractures, but it doesn't reflect an overall flaw in the planes design. Things do get old and wear out...

@falconfire, johnnyabnormal, et al: US defense spending is so high in part because it compensates for reduced spending by the likes of Germany, Japan, South Korea and other places around the world that we've had major military installations for the last forty or fifty years. Otherwise, what AhnyerKeester said. Things wear out. It's a wonder that we've kept the B-52 in the air as long as we have, and it will be interesting to see what happens to them over the next thirty-odd years.

We're having similar issues with the A-10 Thunderbolt/Warthog. Unfortunately, Fairchild-Republic is kaput and nobody's making parts, so a fair number of retired A-10s are being mothballed and kept as sources of parts, potential replacements, and the like.

@Falconfire: The U.S. Spending won the Cold War. As soon as we stop spending and stop having the military technology, China will probably show their hand. They are still spending a lot of money on their million man army. China might pretend to be a capitalist country, but underneath it is still a communist country.

@LoganSix: I'm fairly certain the China's space program is the reason for our sudden rush to return to the moon.

The moon is the high ground and I don't think China would hesitate to use it to maximum advantage.

So why does the simulation have the landing gear down? They don't still use landing gear as an air brake (right?), so was that a simulation snafu or was that really how it was?

Obviously that maneuver was the "last straw" for the weakened section... understanding the actual stresses would be important for analysis... Boeing isn't getting that from a simulation with landing gear in the wrong state.

I'm going to guess that this "simulation" was strictly for the visual (and it's working, eh?). Who has more to gain by making sure that we HAVE to replace our current jets? Think about it.

We spend far less on military/defense than we do on social programs. At least we all benefit from being able to sleep in peace at night thanks to the military. Most of us don't benefit from social programs, especially the middle class that funds most of them.

@LoganSix: You have no clue what you're talking about. You're just like the many dumb Americans who's brain has been brainwashed by the U.S gov't and media. What, you think that the U.S. Gov't is above using propaganda on its own citizens? Think again McFly!

The Soviet Union collapsed NOT because of our spending. Contrary to the B.S. Republican propaganda that Regan (the thief who stole U.S. taxpayers' money to fund contra by selling weapons to IRAN, even though congress enacted a law SPECIFICALLY asking him NOT to do so) and his dumb supporters claim, the Soviet Union collapse because it was an un-sustainable system of government. The communist economic system doesn't work.

China knows this also. That is why they are making reforms in their economic system because if you leave your citizens poor for sustained amount of time, revolts will arise. It's been like this since the beginning of time. Just go back and study history. But make no mistakes about it, China is NOT building their armed forces to go after the west. Anyone who says so is full of crap. Most Westerners don't understand China. The first mistake they make is to use a western blueprint for making the argument that they have imperialist aspirations. The fact of the matter is, they don't. It's the "white man" who has always wanted to subjugate others. Its history is rife with instances of this. The fore fathers of this nation was fully aware of it when the wrote the constitution. Why do you think they put in the second amendment for example? China has always been a society who honors other country's right to govern themselves. Even today, the U.S. media constantly harasses China whenever China refuses to go along with the U.S. at the U.N. Security council whenever the U.S. wants impose their blue print for government on other countries. That clearly shows that they have no intention interfering with other nations. Their only interest in other countries is one of commerce. What China is doing in building their military is to do exactly the opposite of what the western media and gov'ts are saying. They Chinese want to prevent others from interfering with their right to self govern. Again you must study history. It was only about 150 years ago that China was gang raped by the west. Every western nation including the U.S. took turns. Ever heard of the Opium War? Boxer Rebellion? Why do you think Hong Kong and Macao was ruled by the British and Portuguese for the past 100 years? China, at the time was foolish enough to think that the Westerners would have the decency NOT to pray on them. Well, they're determined that this WILL NOT happen to them again.

@strider_mt2k: Hmm, the moon as the highground? You mean like putting "Lasers" on it? Maybe we could give it a catchy name like "Laser Moon" or "Death Moon", no wait, "DeathStar"!! Perfect. Then they'll hold us ransom for millions of dollars!

Actually, I don't disagree, I just couldn't resist.

@ Noobs-r-us

China honors countrys rights? Ever heard of Tibet?

@huygir: Watch the video again. The landing gear comes open after the cockpit splits off.

@jstonemo: Maybe, but also realize the billions (close to 86 for fiscal 2008) of dollars we spend on veteran's benefits (not that they don't deserve it), and the hundreds of billions (somewhere between 360 and 370) of interest that's added to the national debt from all this military spending. Factor that in, and the war spending vs. social programs spending evens itself out. And social security, whose trust fund is raised and spent separately from income tax doesn't apply here.

@huygir: if you notice, the landing gear doesn't deploy until after the fuselage breaks apart. Yes, you can still use landing gear as a last ditch air brake, but no, the pilot didn't do that. Considering the cockpit is where all the electronic "brain" is, when it broke free, there were a lot of systems that were restored to their default position. Since all planes are manufactured on the ground, with their landing gear deployed, the default position for the landing gear is down.

There you go... 2 years of Air Force pilot training to disprove a conspiracy theory. I deserve a raise. Oh wait...

I really wish someone would setup a country that had lots of cool stuff in it, and no military. Then held a stopwatch on how long it was until somebody can in and took all the cool stuff by force.

A simple history of the world shows that despite all the kumbaya hippy dippyness you only have what you can stop someone else from you. If it weren't for the ridiculous military spending that the US did during the Cold War most of Europe and Asia would've been under Soviet domination, or involved in the type of endless petty tribal wars and genocides that had been waged on the continent for centuries. The US has subsidized the economies of most of the free world for the last half century by allowing them to not have to worry above their own defense, or outside aggression without spending that much of their own coin. Hell, outside of the UK and Australia, most of NATO has little to no legitimate force projection capability. And yet it's fashionable to begrudge the people that do the work the proper tools.

"Those who abjure violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf."

BDESIGN : Ever heard of Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, the parts of the Southwest that were once part of Mexico?

@bdesign: Yea, I was waiting for that one. Again, in it's 5,000 years of history, you can only point to Tibet? Guess, what? In those same 5,000 years, China has always been isolationists. The one time they decide to adopt something western, guess what? They picked Communism. The worst form of gov't devised by westerners. Yup you have Mao to thanks for that. It was also Mao, again, with this western mentality in mind that they went after Tibet. So you can thank Marx for that one. People are always under the mistaken impression that Hitler was the worst but in my book, Karl Marx is much more so because of his stupid idea which went on to kill more people than anything.

In any case, Mao is dead. China is now returning to its historical roots. They're only interested in a trade war.

For the geeks:

The Israeli F-15 spawned work on neural-network based flight controllers that adapted to changing flight dynamics.

Meaning: remove a wing, and the plane (after a brief bit of hiccups) resumes its normal flight pattern by re-adapting to the changed aerodynamics of the plane.

Link1: [www.nasa.gov]
Link 2: [www.nasa.gov]

Sorry, I can't find anything more flashy :)

Incredibly cool stuff.

@junyo: "I really wish someone would setup a country that had lots of cool stuff in it, and no military. Then held a stopwatch on how long it was until somebody can in and took all the cool stuff by force."

I've never been a advocate of "kumbaya hippy dippyness", but I also do advocate not having to live in the the real world version of "Team America: World Police". Being able to defend is different than trying to control.

"If it weren't for the ridiculous military spending that the US did during the Cold War most of Europe and Asia would've been under Soviet domination, or involved in the type of endless petty tribal wars and genocides that had been waged on the continent for centuries."

I suppose we aren't involved in any petty tribal wars or genocide...nope! Not the USA!

@everyone: Probably one of the most important speeches in American history within the last 100 years:

[www.youtube.com]

My Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp transformers used to do that all the time (after I wore them out).

Geez, you'd think the air force would have known about the weakspot...

[www.youtube.com]

Designing an airplane like an F-15 is always a fine balancing act, having to design it to be lightweight so it can maneuver quickly (high G flying) while at the same time making it strong (which adds weight) so it can maneuver under those high stresses.

If an aircraft breaks up in flight due to fatigue, you can bet that somewhere someone dropped the ball. It could be that there's a design flaw. It could be a maintenance issue (stress cracks, corrosion, etc.). It could be that the aircraft has just been flown longer than its design life (lax oversight). Or it could be a combination of all three. Proper manufacturing, maintenance and record-keeping should keep an airplane from breaking up in flight.

Now, to address the military-industrial complex argument. Sure, the government has at times been overcharged for things, sold things that are substandard, etc., but in my personal experience, defense contractors in general really do try to deliver a quality product. The military's requirements are not easy ones to meet, nor should they be.

@Noobs-R-Us:

Taiwan is a free and independent democracy, yet The People's Republic of China threatens all manner of modern violence when it practices its right to self-governance.

China bankrolled the Khmer Rouge, genocidal thugs that killed millions of their own people.

China invaded Vietnam in 1979 when the Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge.

China supports Myanmar, Sudan, North Korea and many other murderous regimes not because of respect for self-governance, but to expand their economic and power base.

Will China intentionally attacked the U.S.? Unlikely, but the U.S. must be prepared to defend democracy (Taiwan, South Korea, India) from the forces of tyranny.

@Sihanouk-s-Poodle: Taiwan is part of China, it's not an independent country. In fact, for many years, the Nationalists in Taiwan claimed that it was the other way around, that China is part of Taiwan and that they will one day reclaim it from those commies.

If Hawaii wanted to go independent and secede the U.S. do you think the U.S. would let that happen? If you do then you're naive. Well, it's the same with China.

As far as supporting the neighboring countries are concerned. We did the same during the Cuba Missile crisis. We didn't want our enemies setting up bases so close to home. Well, the Chinese also didn't want their enemies setting up bases so close to home either. So what's the difference?

Once again, you think like a typically westerner. Everything that you do is saint like and everything that others do is despicable, right?

typically=typical

@Noobs-R-Us: Well, at least we know which side you're on. So, when are you leaving for your communist paradise? Be sure to write if you manage to make enough money for pen and paper, I hope it gets through the censors.

You know, I bet sometimes the Department of Defense really regrets this whole ARPANET thing....

@middy: Typical response of someone who has more blind faith than brains. It's not that I like the Chinese government more it's just I HATE hypocrisy. If you want to make an honest argument then fine, but don't couch your bullshit propaganda in the form of holier than thou, do as I say not as I do benevolence.

I support 100% of our efforts to do what we need to fix the numerous problems here in America. But I will be damned if I'm going to lead around like some snot nose school boy by some American Goebbels pretending to do good around the world. Our shit stink as much as anyone else's in the world. It's crazy to think otherwise.

@middy: BTW, I'm more of a patriot than you will ever be. I question our government's actions whereas, you blindly follow. If you know anything about the founding of this country and it's values, especially that of Jefferson's, than you should be in absolute agreement with me.

@johnnyabnormal:"Being able to defend is different than trying to control."

Yeah, it's far less efficient. I can "defend" my country in a war of attrition costing millions of lives on both sides, or I can build enough military might, occasionally might a public use of force to demonstrate it, to deter any such attack in the first place.
I suppose we aren't involved in any petty tribal wars or genocide...nope! Not the USA

So because the US has made mistakes is a reason to do nothing? Yeah, that's a brilliant philosophy. Because the US killed Indians, we have no moral standing to ever oppose genocide anywhere, ever. Screw the Croats and screw the Tutsis. I'm sure the people that are being murdered, raped and burned out of their villages in the Sudan at this moment are so very happy about your high moral ground, formed over a vanilla latte.

But I will be damned if I'm going to lead around like some snot nose school boy by some American Goebbels pretending to do good around the world. Our shit stink as much as anyone else's in the world. It's crazy to think otherwise.

Godwin's Law notwithstanding, you might want to think long and hard about comparing anyone in any US government to the Nazis, or about claiming moral parity with such. At minimum it diminishes any further argument you make by making you look like a fool since it's demonstrably false. If it weren't false you couldn't publically make the claim without being dragged off and shot, or worse. At maximum it's a disgusting slander to the millions of Americans who gave their lives to stop such men.

@junyo: It's foolish to try to ignore the substance of my position due to the way its presented no? In any case, if you don't believe me, try reading "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot" by Naomi Wolf. In it she specifically cited a blue print that tyrants throughout history used to gain control. Yes, even that of the Nazis. I bring that up not for shock value but because this particular administration is playing by that blueprint that the Nazis also used. Here, you can also listen to her presentation if you don't like to read… [www.youtube.com]

@bdesign:I agree with bdesign. You realize that Taiwan still isn't technically its own country, that China still thinks they control them? The Chinese as a country look out for China.
Why do you think Mao sent all of those troops to fight in the Korean war? Or did you not realize that it was the Chinese protecting their borders?
Every country looks out for themselves. Not others. No matter what they say.

@Noobs-R-Us:

Hard to see someone with rational thoughts nowadays on the net, though not completely agreeing with some of your arguments, you have my respect. You also make some interesting points (or rather, pointing out the facts), I wish more people see it that way.

Too many hypocrit out there thinking our government is the rightous defender of freedom, but all government and politicians are alike, they need money and power and they'll do whatever to get it. When people are voicing things like free Tibet etc., they are ignoring the things happening within our country. America would really be better off if we paid more attention to our education system for example.

Basically, "Mind your own business" is what everyone on earth want us to do, and I think we should listen to them.

@junyo:

I said (in sarcasm): "I suppose we aren't involved in any petty tribal wars or genocide...nope! Not the USA"

Did you think I was serious? I hardly think I pontificate "high moral ground" and drink Starbucks!

On Defense/Control: I firmly believe the USA would benefit from not fucking with the rest of the world so much and so often. It's really quite simple. Oh, and I'd rather see all that excessive military taxpayer money go to things like technology, infrastructure, education, health care, etc. I'd even wager a bet we'd be energy dependent if all of that money was spent on achieving such a goal. Then we wouldn't be doing all these power grabs all the time. The money we spend on military is out of control and counter productive. I would hope humanity evolves past apes enough to settle a argument with a handshake rather than a punch to the face.

@