Originally Posted by
gums
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...
Hanoi is a much nicer place to visit today, definitely more inviting than during Gums star date.
The F-35 is not often describes as pretty, but it is the most plentiful low RCS/stealthy aircraft out there, and it is on our side of the fence. (even Gum's A-7 was purtier) Always wanted to swap rides when adjacent to an F-22, but at outstanding as that aircraft is, it got an oak stake in the heart from congress. Right now, the overly expensive F-22 looks pretty darn cost effective against the L-M "bargain basement, all things to all users" F-35 solution. The F-35 is going to end up with stuff on the wings as a near certainty, to conduct any form of CAS, and the ground guys need that. The biggest concern that it gives is not whether it is able to out accelerate a SU-whatever, or a MIG-yadayada, those are all ROE problems or leakers, in which case, the F-35 still is a better ride than the oppo, the concern is when a 2nd Louie is in deep doo doo and calls up for CAS, MANPADS still make it an expensive proposition for the state. The A-10 was a good idea, is a good idea, and will be a good idea into the future, IMHO. If you can get rid of the driver, then all the better, but the guy calling in the support will be a lot happier with a friendly voice than calling up "Dave from ATT, from the friendly call centre in Bangalore..."
The next weeks will indicate whether the MQ-1/-9s etc can survive in a more intense airspace than they have operated (AFAIAA...
) previously. MQ's are not stealthy...
The A-10 still provides a possible solution for being able to give CAS and to survive the effort. MQ with stealth would be better yet, but, 1. haven't seen much of that and 2. that may just mean that it is already very effective. Survivability of the F-35 and A-10 would appear to lean heavily to the A-10 for CAS. In the absence of that type of platform, the mini drones offer a means to give targeting, but that needs the position to be determined and provided to an in range ordnance system... works for bits of Ukraine, not going to work so well out around the spratleys.
For airspace denial at the upper levels, the F-35 is the hammer that is in the tool belt now, and without encumbrance by ROE lunacy has a fair chance of being reusable. Down in the weeds, carrying external ordnance, it would appear to be an expensive way for J.O.'s to get promotion.
The only good news to come from Ukraine is that the Russians are going to have a hard time selling their "battle proven" hardware to anyone outside of Ouagadougou as a gift that keeps giving, and as the majority of tech components come from outside of Russia, and within the former RF, it was Ukraine that did the smart tech stuff, not Moscow.... , well, global arms are going to start changing character.