I read today that it costs about $150 to $200 Million to build ONE F-22 Raptor aircraft. | |
I read today that we’ve built fewer than 200 F-22 Raptors (about 180 are deployed and in service). The total cost of development (and purchase) is about $65 Billion. | |
I read today that the United States has 11, 12, or 13 aircraft carriers in service (depending on your source and what’s considered “in service”). | |
I read today that the average US aircraft carrier can carry about 85 to 90 aircraft. | |
Given the number of F-22’s we have in service and the number of carriers we have in service, that means we have about 12 to 15 F-22’s per carrier. So the other 70 odd aircraft must be of some other type. | |
I guess 12 to 15 are enough to protect the carrier and do all of the other missions required of the F-22. But it sure doesn’t seem like many fighter planes to me… | |
I read today that the US graduates about 700 computer and information security majors a year. | |
I read today that there are about 25,000 graduates in parks, recreation, leisure or fitness majors every year, and 55,000 English graduates. | |
I read today that it costs about $22 thousand dollars a year to attend college in the US. | |
Now, it seems to me that if we are really serious about getting ahead in information technology and computer security, we could trade one single F-22 for ALL the computer science majors four years of education and they would graduate debt free. | |
Now, it seems to me that if we are really serious about getting the best math and engineer graduates into our classrooms, we could trade one single F-22 for ALL the math and engineering majors four years of education and they would graduate debt free. | |
A “full and free ride” would encourage a lot more folks to go into technology and security (or math and engineering). | |
Now I don’t know if two F-22’s are worth 700 computer security graduates or 55,000 English graduates or “X” number of math and science teachers. I just think about what the trade-off for an unnecessary war in Iraq and a continuing war in Afghanistan are costing us as a nation each year (and I’m not even talking about lives lost and injuries suffered) and I have to ask myself… | |
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I’m Just Askin’…
December 13, 2010 by kmabarrett
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