Seriously can someone explain to me what advantage the A and C variants has over the current fleet? Range, payload, cruise speed, thrust/weight, all seem to be worse, or at least no better then the current fleet. It's somewhat stealthy I guess,
It was never meant to be a super ATA plane like the F22. It was meant to be, like the F16, a multi-mission fighter that will survive in future environments. Which legacy aircraft will have great difficulty doing. Boy have people learned nothing in the air wars of the last 50 years?
Range on internal fuel will be much greater then the F18SH. Yeah you can put extra tanks on the 18 but then you have greatly increased its already to large RCS. Which BTW is over twice as small on the 35 as the F117s was. Performance-wise in the ATA role it will be as good or better as the legacy fighters its replacing. In other words "good enough" "maneuverable enough" and "fast enough" because its stealth, advanced weaponry, and avionics suite will give it a big edge. Future air wars will be won on opening nights with the enemys air force probably never even seeing ours. Opening nights bombing alone will severely degrade their ability to fight an air war.
Let me ask you this? The F35 is a very expensive program for us even with the financial help, and safety net of future sales, from/to our allies. Imagine the stress being put on China's military spending attempting to build a clone of the F35. And why would they do so if they felt it wasnt essential?
The best way to win an air war is to never fight it. Ask the Israeli's about 1967 and then 1973. Iraq was competitive against Iran, as was Pakistan/India, in their air war's. Against NATO Iraq wasnt even interesting. Thats what the technological edge gives you ; It gives you an enemy AF smoking in its hangars, its CNC/ATA network in ruins, and whatever left of it our flying blind or running.
China is spending tons cause they dont want us to be the only ones able to put long range smart munitions thru windows, launched from Jabos that look like big insects on a radar screen. Stop thinking of one dimensional air wars where the better performing ATA fighter wins period. Its not going to work that way.
