Salute!
I guess the anti-35 folks will keep on pounding on. You know, the thing can go further and deliver four big bombs within 3 meters of a target without being seen, then come home and do it again..... "but, Gums, it can't carry and employ 38 kindsa missiles and smart bombs, and can't use the AIM-9X off-boresight as well as the older fighters that carry them on the wings so their RCS is more like a B-52 than a fighter" Yada yada yada......
I had issues way back about the new guy on the street, but those were solved - they were engineering and not tactical issues. If you see the F-35 demo videos, it does things as well as the Raptor and airshow jets promoted by some other countries. The slow speed nose-pointing is great, and high speed, high gee stuff is as good or better than the Viper I flew. I do not know where this acceleration complaint is coming from. The sucker has a great T/W number and I never fought when I needed to go supersonic to "extend'. So the accel numbers must come from a st and level profile that you don't see in combat. The Viper took forever to get to 1.6M or higher unless you unloaded.
Considering the price of everything now compared to the Raptor and Typhoon in their early years, this thing seems about right for its capability. Oh, and BTW, the F-35 can now employ the AIM-9X off-boresight when the missile is loaded internally. Yeah, yeah I liked the Lima in the Viper when slaved to the radar and heard that distinctive chirp and saw the missile seeker symbol inside the radar target box - ask Mogs.....
Later...
Gums sends...