FlyPony,
First of all I'm only here to debate, not argue. I'm also more than willing to be informed or educated, hopefully politely. While you don't know my background (or I yours), I'm an ex military aviator, albeit not a fighter pilot, and fully aware of the existence of F-15, Typhoon, etc, thank you.
I was only discussing the USAF use of F-35, but, if you're going to mention other NATO countries, I should point out that for many/most NATO countries planning to buy the F-35, such as Norway and the Netherlands, it will be their only fast jet, and therefore their only option for air superiority missions.
Open sources report that the USAF intends to keep 178 F-15C/Ds, the ones with the AESA upgrade, to supplement the low numbers of F-22s (187 F-22s delivered vs USAF planned requirements for 750, then 648, then 339, then 277...), but that even these numbers face reductions as a result of sequestration, or the need to generate savings to fund, yes, you guessed it, the F-35. F-15C/D production ended in 1985, making the youngest of them already 30 years old, with the prospect of what, 20+ more years in service?
With the USAF planning to buy 1,700 odd F-35s (no doubt that number has changed), as compared to 360 dedicated air superiority aircraft (180 F-22s and 180 ageing F-15C/Ds) I find it difficult to believe that the F-35 won't be required to carry out a considerable portion of air superiority tasking throughout the duration of any conflict.
I also said months (years?) ago that software, especially software testing, would be a major issue with the F-35.
But hey, what would I know?
I apologise to more learned and knowledgeable F-35 commentators for taking up some of your bandwidth!!