Engines - re ending the thread - I think the poor quality banter should cease, but the discussion on the merits of b/c has been interesting with some good points on various matters from e.g. Farley and others.
The points made about the capabilities of the f35 sensor suite is a good one that may change conventional thinking with regards to aew, though no doubt the crowsnest requirement is still valid.
At the end of the day it seems that the f35b has the legs of a gr4 (if that info was valid), a sensor suite up there with an f22 - with all that means for AD performance and e.g. the ability to include gucci ECCM modes - the benefits of stovl that have been well explained, and it also has the added benefit of tangible stealth. On that basis alone it stands out as being significantly better than anything we've ever had before. The fact that an f35c might do all that and go a bit further still is, as the saying goes, perhaps the 'enemy of the good'.
We do have our cv eggs in one basket, but it does seem like a pretty attractive basket that seems like to work largely as advertised. On top of that a decent chunk of all of the 1000s that will eventually be made will be made in the UK - tax revenues that will be good for the economy too.
F18, while tantalisingly available now, capable and off the shelf, actually looks quite poor in comparison IMO.
Last edited by JFZ90; 21st Jun 2012 at 19:14.