Is this just the consequences of rapidly ballooning costs of modern fighter jets? At a tenth of a billion dollars each, there's not much room in the budget for what are even understandable aircraft losses. If I'm not mistaken nothing else is nearly as expensive except the B2. In some ways, losing one of these things is getting pretty close to losing a naval vessel.
Acknowledging this to be the case might help people to understand why they're demanding perfection even if it's risky for the pilots.
I'm already surprised that they are not looking at the number, realizing that pilots cost much less to train than planes to build, and draw conclusions from there. The army has been more cynical in the past.
Acknowledging this to be the case might help people to understand why they're demanding perfection even if it's risky for the pilots.