Which fighter is a better match than an F-35 if you want stealth? (If you don’t want stealth, you aren’t looking at a F-35) The A model is damn nice for most, and the B model wipes the floor with the VTOL competition. There is damn good reason over 1,000 of these have been produced already and orders keep coming in.
I don’t doubt that F-35 has some good stats, I am looking at this from a more general perspective, what I have seen is that because F-35 costs substantially more than other fighters this limits countries that does not have a US level defense budget on how many planes they can afford, for example instead of 50 F-16 they end up with 10-20 F-35.
And by looking at those numbers it seems like they get less defense for the same amount even if F-35 is better than the alternatives.
From what I’ve seen, the F-35 defeats enemy F-16s because of its advanced sensors. Mostly it’s firing missiles at things beyond visual range. Plus it has stealth capabilities that avoid detection and retaliation.
It’s worth the cost because you lose fewer experienced pilots, which are the real bottleneck for an air force.
Yeah, if a country doesn’t need stealth, they really shouldn’t be purchasing stealth. Most countries will probably want a mix of both. Stealth for air dominance and heavily-contested, high-value strikes, and fourth generation air frames to provide bulk ordnance delivery.
With the exception of VTOL, in which the F-35B is the only reasonable option, even if you don’t need stealth.
Honestly, if you already have air superiority and you just need a bomb truck, you can’t go better than strapping a ton of hard points onto a crop duster and raining hell
I hear you have also heard of the US’ newest aircraft, the armed crop duster! (Not a joke, this is a real thing, and it works for exactly the reasons you said)
What stealth alternative would you have? Stealth costs a lot. It’s a steal compared to the f22.
F22 is not for export which makes it much lower volume product and so it has higher unit cost
Plus it’s been out of production for a decade.
It wasn’t a comment about alternatives, it was a comment about something also being wildly expensive and over budget.
It was a comment of whataboutism
That’s the general feeling from people in allied countries that have been put on the F-35 program.
Other fighters could have been a better match, instead they got the expensive Letherman.
Which fighter is a better match than an F-35 if you want stealth? (If you don’t want stealth, you aren’t looking at a F-35) The A model is damn nice for most, and the B model wipes the floor with the VTOL competition. There is damn good reason over 1,000 of these have been produced already and orders keep coming in.
I don’t doubt that F-35 has some good stats, I am looking at this from a more general perspective, what I have seen is that because F-35 costs substantially more than other fighters this limits countries that does not have a US level defense budget on how many planes they can afford, for example instead of 50 F-16 they end up with 10-20 F-35.
And by looking at those numbers it seems like they get less defense for the same amount even if F-35 is better than the alternatives.
From what I’ve seen, the F-35 defeats enemy F-16s because of its advanced sensors. Mostly it’s firing missiles at things beyond visual range. Plus it has stealth capabilities that avoid detection and retaliation.
It’s worth the cost because you lose fewer experienced pilots, which are the real bottleneck for an air force.
I was talking about countries replacing their old F-16s and the F-35 was not the only candidate.
Look at what Belgium were considering in 2018 https://www.brusselstimes.com/48129/eurofighter-there-are-only-two-real-candidates-for-f-16-replacement
Belgium ultimately picked the F-35 over the Eurofigher, and found that it would come in cheaper than projected. But I guess Belgium are F-35 fanboys.
Sometimes it’s hard to communicate, I write A and people read Purple.
If you feel that my ultimate point was to talk about fanboys that’s fine by me.
Sometimes you just need to accept things and move on.
Thanks for the non credible discussion 😁
Yeah, if a country doesn’t need stealth, they really shouldn’t be purchasing stealth. Most countries will probably want a mix of both. Stealth for air dominance and heavily-contested, high-value strikes, and fourth generation air frames to provide bulk ordnance delivery.
With the exception of VTOL, in which the F-35B is the only reasonable option, even if you don’t need stealth.
Honestly, if you already have air superiority and you just need a bomb truck, you can’t go better than strapping a ton of hard points onto a crop duster and raining hell
I hear you have also heard of the US’ newest aircraft, the armed crop duster! (Not a joke, this is a real thing, and it works for exactly the reasons you said)
https://www.twz.com/modified-crop-duster-chosen-for-special-ops-armed-overwatch-mission