Originally Posted by
Lonewolf_50
As with the Israelis, who was really paying for the F-35's there? I remember some loan guarantees on an FMS contract from 20 years ago that underwrote the Turks 'buying' modern aircraft. They didn't have the money, so who was paying the bill? Washington.
And here's where my favorite point arrives. Who the heck needs F-35 at all? Washington?
F-35
per se started in 2000. But it can easily be traced to a Joint Strike Fighter program which started in 1993!!! But even if we take the X-35 as a starting point, it's been 19 years since its inception. The technology has stepped so far forward that it is now possible to fly planes via a satellite while sitting in a shipping container somewhere in the wild west.
F-35 is, as close as makes no difference, obsolete. As usually, it took Lockheed too long to develop a fantasy concept. It has a pilot onboard which in today's world is considered Victorian. Recent UAV developments showed that the signal can be transmitted fast enough to even perform SOME evasive maneuvers and launch air-to-air missiles.
F-35 was made for the Big War, like a WWIII. It's designed to attack or repel a massive armada of enemy forces. Anything other than that, and it's useless. As with the F-22 it's "too valuable to...". F-22 started flying in 1997 but managed to avoid all conflicts where it could be useful - Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria. Pentagon was worried that it could fall into enemy's hands and reveal its secrets. The same will happen to the F-35. It will be kept on friendly bases and guarded from any exposure.
Erdogan doesn't risk anything by losing F-35. Turkey, like no other country, knows what an old but thoroughly upgraded fighter is capable of. Their Israel-upgraded F-4 Terminator 2020 are still flying. Su-35S is a fifth-generation fighter in everything but "stealth". But "stealth" characteristics is hardly anything but a "selling point". The planes are still very well visible on the radars and enemy missiles can see them just as well. However, "stealth" reduces maneuverability and flight characteristics due to a certain shape the plane has to take.
Ergo, my humble opinion - this whole Turkey affair is little more than a badly made show. And my personal prediction - F-35 will soon be gone just like the F-22 was with a couple of hundred built.