Opinions on the F-35

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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Phoenix »

I think that some air forces (like the Royal Navy and IAF) are making a mistake by relying on this plane alone to fulfil the role of air superiority fighter.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Bombcat »

You've gotta use something, and besides, there aren't a whole lot of folks who place a particularly high priority on the air superiority mission and plan to use the F-35 as their prime air superiority plane. The Royal Navy and US Navy rely principally on their missile ships to provide fleet defense, while the US Navy can back their F-35's with Super Bug missile boats. Israel will most likely have Eagles on hand for a good long time to come, so they won't be left without a traditional fighter.

Canada will most likely be relying on the Lightning for air superiority, as will many of the European partners, and possibly Australia. Still, the F-35's abilities in this department cannot be simply dismissed. On the air defense mission, the jet can and most likely will be fitted with external weapons, vastly increasing the available shots. On the penetration mission, the F-35's stealth should permit it to avoid most engagements it could not successfully complete, and there are very few air forces in the world which could comfortably absorb the loss of 4 combat capable jets each time they encounter a pair of F-35's.

All in all, the F-35 is almost certainly expected to score most of it's kills against other airplanes the sensible way - while the other guys are on the ground. True air superiority is won over the other fellow's runway, not in the skies over the battlefield. While such plans may prove optimistic, one can hardly build an affordable tactical aircraft for every possible eventuality, and so a semi-stealthy bomb truck with modest anti-air capabilities is the design which best reflects the military experiences of the last 20-30 years. If there were limitless money, every air force and naval air arm would be equipped with super-fighters of the class of the F-22 or better, but this is simply not the reality in which we live.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Dragon029 »

Bombcat wrote: Canada will most likely be relying on the Lightning for air superiority, as will many of the European partners, and possibly Australia.
Future RAAF: 24 F/A-18F/G's for bombing, 100 F-35A's for air supremacy & first strike - no more Mach 2+ for us :(
Still, if you want a quick strike, you use a cruise missile.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Shutter »

I think that the f-35's physical limitations are often too much of a focal point on this issue. I will concede that I am not a fan of the aircraft, and that I am a little disappointed as to how it is being sold. However, we should keep in mind that the f-35 as a flying plane has been nearly finished for some time (the a variant), most of what Lockheed Martin is currently trying to achieve and has been for quite a while is achieving its lofty goals for avionics and interoperability with other tech. If the f-35 can truly have the reported advantages in terms of radar, networking, situational awareness, jamming and so on it may be a formidable aircraft. Shame the damn thing is so expensive.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Phoenix »

Good plane, but expensive. Technology should be able to make up for that.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Justen Not Relevent »

if the technology works as advertised, and there aren't (too) many problems, then it will be a formidable plane. But it is by no means a dog fighter, and shouldn't be made a key ground attack aircraft. Leave it to the plane that was built around a tank killing gun.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Bombcat »

I figure this topic is the reasonable place to dump any F-35 related news.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

It would seem that the USMC will now be operating 80 F-35C's to replace their F/A-18A/Cs on the US Navy's big deck carriers. The F-35B is still slated to replace the Marine Harriers and land based F/A-18Ds.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by SvenPhantom »

Does this mean I get to have the F-35C in my squadron Bombcat? ;)

On other news, 7 out of 10 F-35s were to continue flight testing from the generator fail incident which happened in flight.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/03/14 ... esume.html
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by vandal »

Dragon029 wrote: Future RAAF: 24 F/A-18F/G's for bombing, 100 F-35A's for air supremacy & first strike - no more Mach 2+ for us :(
Still, if you want a quick strike, you use a cruise missile.
Wouldn't that just burn the shrimp?

I'm glad that us Brits have decided to go with the F-35C, with a better range and better weapons load will make their price tag a little easier to swallow.
My opinion has always been that we should go for the SAAB Gripen in it's naval form, that SAAB are developing for the contest for a India's new carrier aircraft.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Deleted User 1872 »

Once I heard the rumor of the F-35 only pulling 4.0 G's, I lost faith in it. Sry Lightning II lovers out there. :oops:
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Shiny Rice »

Necro much, but still, 4 Gs? That's nothing, an A-10 can pull that. Link or it didn't happen.
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Re: Opnions on the F-35

Post by Seagull »

It's ugly as hell (my opinion) but it will be a good fighter I think
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Re: Opinions on the F-35

Post by Welshy »

F-35 will be able to pull about 9g but IIRC will only be cleared to 7g (Mind in Peace Time most fighers are only cleared up to between 6-7.5g)
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Re: Opinions on the F-35

Post by Strik3agle98 »

I would prefer su-35 over f-35 for air superiority fighter because of the agility
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Re: Opinions on the F-35

Post by Honey Badger »

I'm not a huge fan of the bird but it seems to be picking up some steam. It seems like a number of the gremlins have been ironed out.
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Re: Opinions on the F-35

Post by Shiny Rice »

I was a huge fan of it, especially of the F-35B since it rolled out back in 2009. Hell, I still have a magazine that covered it. But after how much the price went up, I'm not sure if it's that affordable now.
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Re: Opinions on the F-35

Post by vandal »

Who brought this topic back from the dead? Who's Frankenstein'ing topics? Stop it...
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Re: Opinions on the F-35

Post by NightRaven »

vandal wrote:Who brought this topic back from the dead? Who's Frankenstein'ing topics? Stop it...
Not wanting to be part of this, but it's Dtpilot. Again. :evil:
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Re: Opinions on the F-35

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Re: Opinions on the F-35

Post by vandal »

NightRaven wrote:
vandal wrote:Who brought this topic back from the dead? Who's Frankenstein'ing topics? Stop it...
Not wanting to be part of this, but it's Dtpilot. Again. :evil:
Stop being a grass...
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