@O-P, How many do they send to red flag? It would be a few pallets of stuff and more engineers/ground crew than a football team. I'm sure there is a reference to the numbers somewhere, if anyone is bothered.
@LO compared to our hornets, the f-35 is a panacea, as was the Shornets to the F111.
your link is a bit dated, it isn't 400%. now, it's a 6 times LER of 4th gen
"U.S. Air Force analyses show the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35 Lightning II is at least
400 percent more effective in air-to-air combat capability than the best
fighters currently available in the international market.
The Air Force's standard air-to-air engagement analysis model, also
used by allied air forces to assess air-combat performance, pitted the 5th
generation F-35 against all advanced 4th generation fighters in a variety
of simulated scenarios. The results were clear: the F-35 outperformed the
most highly evolved fighters in aerial combat by significant margins."
(someone should email sweetman too, his latest article seems to think it's a LM plot, when infact air force run these.
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic....623&start=1740 )
@TD, china is funding the program, they are the bankers for the US amex