a1bill,
That's not even allowing for the superiority of the F-35's capability.
Lets look at the superiority of the F-35As, but only the typical USAF version.
First of all, Lockheed-Martin (LM for short), upon winning the JSF award said verbally and in their advertising, their F-35 fighter was going to be the best all around fighter in the world, unmatched by any, anywhere. Then as their boasting slowly melted away over 15 years of continued development, it was announced the F-35 was never planned to be an air to air fighter, it was only planned to be an air to ground attack fighter. So how does the superior F-35 and its capabilities stack up with the free world's comparable aircraft?
A.
Surprising the enemy without being surprised Best to worst rating:
1. Rafale, 2. Typhoon, 3. F-22, 4. F-35, 5. Gripen, 6. F-16, 7. F-18, 8. F-15.
B.
Outnumbering the enemy in the air
Depends on various factors:
B1. Costs
Unit flyaway costs when adjusted for inflation to FY 2013 USD are 126 million USD for F-15C, 70 million USD for F-16C, 68 million USD for F-18C, 273 million USD for F-22A, 188 million USD for F-35A, 127 million USD for Typhoon, 95 million USD for Rafale C and 44 million USD for Gripen C, all in FY2013 USD. As a result, 10 billion USD gives 79 F-15Cs, 142 F-16Cs, 147 F-18Cs, 36 F-22As, 53 F-35As, 78 Typhoons, 105 Raffles and 227 Gripens.
B2. Downtime for maintenance or resulting sorties per day
Number of sorties per aircraft per day is 1 for F-15, 1,2 for F-16 and F-18, 0,5 for F-22, 0,3 for F-35.
Overall best to worst rating:
1. Gripen, 2. Rafale, 3. F-18, 4. F-16, 5. Typhoon, 6. F-15, 7. F-22, 8. F-35.
C.
Outmaneuvering the enemy
Now I know this is contentious as the F-35 isn't an air to air dog fighter, but there comes a time when the two air to air missiles have been expended and there is no supporting coverage from one or more of the 200 or so F-22s. So looking at 5 maneuvering characteristics, Overall best to worst rating:
1. Gripen, 2. Rafale, 3. F-18, 4. F-16, 5. Typhoon, 6. F-15, 7. F-22, 8. F-35.
D.
Outlasting the enemy, Fuel Fraction: Best to worst rating
1. Rafale, 2. Typhoon, 3. F-22, 4. F-16C, 5. Gripen C, 6. F-15C, 7. F-35A, 8. F-18C.
E.
Achieving reliable kills : Best to worst
Guns: Rafale 5, Gripen/Typhoon 4, F-15/16/18 3, F-35 2, F-22 1.
WVR missiles: Gripen/Typhoon 5, Rafale 4, F-15/16/18 3, F-22/35 2.
BVR missiles: Rafale 5, others 4.
Overall reliable kills rating:
1. Rafale, 2. Gripen, Typhoon, 3. US teen-series fighters, 4. F-35, 5. F-22.
So, looking at everything, although no one fighter is perfect, the best to worse:
1. Rafale, 2. Typhoon, 3. Gripen, 4. F-22, 5. F-16, 6. F-15, F-35, 7. F-18.
However, all of this info is nice to know but will not make an iota of difference as we plod along the path of the superior F-35 saga, mile to go before we sleep, miles to go before we sleep. BTW, JPO leader General Bogdan is having trouble sleeping thinking about how much the maintenance costs are going to be for the F-35...