I tend to agree with your last statement JSFfan. I think this is a very polar argument. I think the pro-JSF camp has flaws in its arguments namely:
1. The latest frontline jets, and in particular the Super Hornet (called Rhino by the crews round these parts, not SH (Support Helo) or Super Bug (errr, OK)), seem to have reduced their RCS without anyone noticing and as a result the layman (of whom there appear to be quite a few) seem to draw the 'LO' line below Gen 5. This is total rubbish of course.
2. The layman is still convinced that technology such as data fusion, IRST, AESA, NCTR, Link, Very High Off Boresight Cueing, HMS, 9X are still to come in Gen 5. They aren't, they're here now and work well. Incidentally two of those aren't available to the current Gen 5 super hero....which you can see through open source.
You must be new to this thread...no one agrees with me about anything.
With it's 'go to war kit' fitted, I've 'heard' it's said here, that the RCS of the Super Hornet blk 2 is surprisingly small. As a pleb, I would only add that LO seems an enabler for what happens under the skin.
The anti-JSF camp has one flaw in its argument and it is simply this:
1. What we have always considered 'first day of the war' has now (good example Syria getting some pretty fearsome systems) become 'every day of the war'. I will badly misquote Hugh Bicheno from his (excellent) book on the Falklands War. <<Something is never better than nothing in warfare>>. You just have to decide whether or not you agree. Is there any point paying a single penny for an aircraft that cannot exist inside an enemy IADS? If you want to spend billions on a system like Typhoon but be secure in the knowledge that it can't play until all the double digit SAMs have gone - well, what capability have you actually bought?
And that for me is the key to this argument. We talk too much of cracks in this spar or heat on this surface, we anchor far too much on anachronistic arguments about speed and turn rates. We need to look at the capability this thing brings. For obvious reasons we don't get a full read out of what that is. As a Gen 4.5 practitioner and part time colleague of Gen 5 warriors I cannot wait. What they bring to the fight is awesome. For me it brings what has become the entry level capability.
I (without expecting everyone/ anyone to agree) think it's worth the money, we're getting a good Maritime Striker here.
Those like yourself that are in the loop, do speak very highly about the f-35