'Jump jets' aside. Can someone please tell me (forgive my addled brain..) what advantage the F-35 has in all regimes over the 'adversaries'?
I've been looking at wing area,
F-35A: 460 ft² (42.7 m²) mtow: 70,000 lb
F-22: 840 ft² (78.04 m²) mtow : 83,500 lb
PAK FA: 848.1 ft² (78.8 m²) mtow: 77,160 lb
J-20: 790 ft² (73 m²) mtow: 80,001 lb
and I'm wondering what the outcome would be if the 'see first shoot first' strategy failed at first attempt?
I'm not being cynical, just curious. With that wing area, how the F35 is going to be maneuverable enough to be anything more than a bvr aam/gbu delivery system is beyond me.