Here goes, this is a silly debate, but I would like some public opinion. Some time ago I saw an opinion poll where the majority considered the U.S. Air Force as the most important branch of the military, Army second, Navy third. I can’t cite where because I don’t remember (I want to say it was a CNN.com quick vote), but why is this? Is it that when people see/hear about air strikes they automatically think “Air Force?” When chances are good that the jet came off a nearby carrier. In Afghanistan the vast majority of airstrikes have been by Navy jets. So my question is, “Who has the “real” air force?”
IMHO, Navy aviation, much like the Marines, provide better quick-strike force projection capability. They are limited to what can be transported by their assault ships. Because of that, they lack the sustained firepower of the Air Force and Army once the later have set up shop.
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Navy does not have strategic bombers like the B1, B2 or B52.
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USAF has more specialized aircraft like A10s for killing tanks, AC130 gunships and bigger AWACS and STARS planes.
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The USAF has more fighters and tactical bombers
but
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The Navy can be anywhere relatively quickly
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The firepower of a single carrier is greater than most air forces
So in answer to “whos the real Air Force”, I would say that depends on what you want to do.
Whoever is closer when I need some air support.
Just as an aside - what’s with Marine aviation? What’s their job? How do their fighters measure up to the USAF and Navy?
this could start flaming shortly…
I have a brother-in-law who is Maj., USMC (ret.).
His opinion of Navy pilots is not nice - his take is that the USMC need their own air force because the Navy jocks are incompetant.
OK navy - what is the consensus opinion of mc pilots?
then again, the V22 Osprey is a good example of why the marines should NOT be allowed to buy aircraft…
as if dragging out jack northrup’s ‘flying wing’ (B2) wasn’t enough, we just HAD to dig up the tilt-rotor!!!
IIRC, the role of USMC aviation is similar to US Army aviation, mostly close-in support or transportation of ground troops, not air superiority or strategic bombing.
Harriers - VTOL ground attack fighter bombers - can’t really compete with Hornets, F14s or their Russian counterparts.
Cobra attack hellicopters - Older than Apaches, but I presume they have been upgraded enough to be modern.
Ospreys - VTOL tilt rotor planes - While a little sketchy, a couple of my friends in the USMC think they are pretty cool. No one like the M16 when it was first issued either.
And the usual assortment of other copters.
Gundecked maintenance records and dead aircrew.
Don’t the Marines have F/A-18 squadrons too?
Yes, the Marines have F/A-18 Hornet squadrons, such as VMFA(AW)-533. These guys go out and support the MEU’s. Thanks for the answers.
Is this one of those “who would win in a fight?” threads?
If so, my money’s on the USAF. They have all the nuclear bombs.
What about the missiles (Polaris?) on the SSBNs? They’re pretty nuclear (“nucular”) too.