Pierre Sprey testifying to Congress in December 1971:
… it is possible to increase complexities of a weapons system to a point where it is very easily counter-measured. I can’t go into the details here because the rest of the subject matter is classified, but there are a number of examples of that.
Pierre Sprey designed the first paper lightweight fighter, the FXX, in 1968 when at the Pentagon under the Assistant Secretary for Systems Analysis in OSD (OSA). It evolved into the F-16 and F-18.
In 1971–before those planes ever flew–Mr. Gloeckler and Mr. Spangenberg in the Navy openly criticized Sprey for “many fallacious assumptions, half truths, distortions, and erroneous extrapolations.”
See page 268 of “Weapon Systems Acquisition Process” Hearings Before the Committee on Armed Services United States Senate, Ninety-Second Congress, First Session, December 3-9, 1971.
Pierre wants a plane as simple as his mind. There is an easy folding technique, you just need an A4 paper, 7 folds and there you are, a simpleton’s fighter plane. Completely disregarding that if you invest in a plane, it should be fit for future warfare, not medieval warfare. If you think like him, there is better use of that money anywhere else.