Salute!
No problem, Henra.
It is just that the anti-35 folks keep on keeping on without fielding something as good or better at the same price.
I can't find a friendly attack or fighter that has the same RCS or super radar or legs with internal gas or precision ordnance with or without GPS. Ditto for potential adversaries.
Make no mistake, after initial few days or whatever, the plane will likely use pylons for extra armament, most likely A2A missiles. But the thing will never be a bomb truck like the A-6, or the A-7 I flew over Hanoi. Having stood in front of 200 aviators at Red Flag as the Mission Commander, I had to integrate all the players with their capabilities/limitations to successfully get the job done that HHQ had aasigned. I would have loved to have had in my order of battle a few very low RCS planes with a coupla LGB eggs and Slammers and cosmic radar and be able to fly a 400 n.m. mission and come home without refueling like the Double Uglies and Hornets and.....
As with many, the long development time irritates me. I blame the creatures we must avoid for rules of the forum - poly, from the ancient Greeks for many, ticks - blood sucking insects, resulting in "polytickians".
The F-35 may not be the best all-around attack aircraft in 10 years, but this year it will be hard to beat.
Gums sends...
Last edited by gums; 4th Jun 2022 at 00:50.
Reason: grammar/spelling