Originally Posted by
peter we
Is any potential adversary likely to get even 10% of the projected number of F-35 aircraft?
Quantity has a quality of its own (to quote Stalin). Its a quality that seems to be overlooked.
For the USAF it is pretty safe to assume they will not be overwhelmed by any other Air Force in the World for the foreseeable future. They probably wouldn't even with their legacy jets given their sheer number and their nifty miscellaneous Support Air Assets.
For Air Forces who spend all the money they have available for flying assets in order to acquire 20 or 30 of these Jets the situation might be different. Especially if they have to sacrifice other essential assets (AEW, SEAD, EW) in order to afford this not exactly cheap Jet.