a knowledgeable and succint summary of the merits of F35
No, sorry! But this is PPRuNe so here goes:
1. In F35C guise it can operate from a carrier (with increased fuel)
2. In F35B guise it can operate from a carrier (with less fuel and less payload)
3. 10 years newer (IOC guestimate) than Typhoon and US designed so avionics will be 15+ years newer (radar, networkcentric blah)
4. Stealth.
So IMHO it will be a huge leap from Harrier (once it is working properly in 202?) and will offer advantages over Typhoon, especially in high threat scenarios. Payload/range seems unclear v Typhoon. Typhoon is more manoeuvrable (is this important?)