Pierre Sprey
Pierre Michel Sprey was an American defense analyst. Working with John Boyd and Thomas P. Christie at the Pentagon, he was associated with the self-dubbed 'Fighter Mafia', which advocated the use of energy–maneuverability theory in fighter jet design. Sprey falsely claimed to be involved in the design of several military jets, including the and.
Early life and education
Sprey was born in Nice, France, in 1937 to Jewish parents and raised in New York, U.S. Sprey was admitted to Yale University at the age of fifteen and graduated four years later with a double major in French literature and mechanical engineering. He later continued his education at Cornell University where he studied mathematical statistics and operations research. He subsequently worked at Grumman Aircraft as a consulting statistician on space and commercial transportation projects. From 1966 to 1970 he was a special assistant at the Office of the Secretary of Defense.Defense analyst and commentator
During the 1960s, at which time he worked as a statistician for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis, Sprey was associated with a group of defense analysts calling themselves the "Fighter Mafia", who advocated for a lightweight fighter as an alternative to the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle|.The Fighter Mafia strongly believed that an ideal fighter should not include any of the sophisticated radar and missile systems or rudimentary ground-attack capability that found their way into the. Based on energy–maneuverability theory they advocated for a small, low-drag, low-weight, fighter with no bomb racks. The Fighter Mafia falsely credit this concept for spurring the creation of the Lightweight Fighter program that would result in the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon|, the most produced 4th generation fighter, of which they had no part in development. Sprey also became friends with Avery Kay, whom he claimed was involved with work on design concepts for a large caliber ground attack aircraft that would result in the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II|. Sprey's claims regarding designing the, or having a part in designing the, are false. This has resulted in controversy, with the recognized designer of the Alexander Kartveli being recognized over Sprey as the true designer in recent years.
However both the Fighter Mafia and their critics note the design changes made to the as, like the, the became a costlier multi-role fighter rather than the light air-to-air specialist they originally envisioned. Sprey continued to be critical of complex aspects of the and despite both seeing successful combat use, including the 's perfect air to air combat record. Sprey at times also expressed his dissatisfaction with the size and complexity of the, proposing a concept he called a blitzfighter, an extremely small aircraft with a cannon and no other armaments.
Paralleling his earlier critiques of the and, Sprey was a frequent critic of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. He asserted the F-35 was too costly and complicated to replace the and, particularly the latter's role in close air support. Sprey claimed that close air support should be the Air Force's most important mission and that the USAF has been trying to retire the for years simply because it does not want the CAS mission. Though many of his claims about modern air combat have received pushback from other commentators and air force pilots. Sprey was interviewed about his views of the F-35 multiple times: by the popular press, on the politics and policy news network C-SPAN, at a meeting of the activist group "Stop the F-35", and on Russian state media. He also appeared on a podcast hosted by Aviation Week where he debated a retired US Marine Corps combat pilot and instructor at the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program who had piloted both the F-35B and the F-22 Raptor.