Eglin F-35 initial cadre starts transition training - The DEW Line
The veteran F-16 operational tester and Weapons School grad shared some of his impressions the F-35. The jet is powerful, stable and easy to fly.
"One of the things this aircraft usually takes hit on is the handling because it's not an F-22," Kloos says. "An F-22 is unique in its ability to maneuver and we'll never be that."
But compared to other aircraft, a combat-configured F-35 probably edges out other existing designs carrying a similar load-out. "When I'm downrange in Badguyland that's the configuration I need to have confidence in maneuvering, and that's where I think the F-35 starts to edge out an aircraft like the F-16," Kloos says.
A combat-configured F-16 is encumbered with weapons, external fuel tanks, and electronic countermeasures pods that sap the jet's performance. "You put all that on, I'll take the F-35 as far as handling characteristic and performance, that's not to mention the tactical capabilities and advancements in stealth," he says. "It's of course way beyond what the F-16 has currently."
The F-35's acceleration is "very comparable" to a Block 50 F-16. "Again, if you cleaned off an F-16 and wanted to turn and maintain Gs and [turn] rates, then I think a clean F-16 would certainly outperform a loaded F-35," Kloos says. "But if you compared them at combat loadings, the F-35 I think would probably outperform it."
The F-16, Kloos says, is a very capable aircraft in a within visual range engagement--especially in the lightly loaded air-to-air configuration used during training sorties at home station. "It's really good at performing in that kind of configuration," Kloos says. "But that's not a configuration that I've ever--I've been in a lot of different deployments--and those are the configurations I've never been in with weapons onboard."
Not really anything specifically negative but I wouldn't call it an overwhelmingly positive assesment either.
He's comparing the most capable F35 (the A) vs a run of the mill F16 with ,what sounds like, a CAS load, in which case the F35 sort of outperforms the old F16, but it doesn't seem to be so impressive when loads are lighter (eg. like only A2A missiles for air supremacy tasks).
All this knowing that besides the, albeit very capable, F16 there are also fighters like the F15, the RAFALE and Eurofighter which are all much more capable and have a substantially higher T/W ratio (let alone lower wingloading) than said F16 and ,more worrying, the F35.
I wouldn't call this a ringing endorsement for the F35A from someone who certainly is in a position to know, let alone the much heavier B and C versions.