F-35 News. 06.06.12

A little F-35 news to set the proper tone for the week for all those deluded fools that actually think this airplane isn't every bit the gamechanger I claim...

First from the Why the F-35 Blog....

The veteran F-16 operational tester and Weapons School grad shared some of his impressions the F-35. The jet is powerful, stable and easy to fly.
"One of the things this aircraft usually takes hit on is the handling because it's not an F-22," Kloos says. "An F-22 is unique in its ability to maneuver and we'll never be that."
But compared to other aircraft, a combat-configured F-35 probably edges out other existing designs carrying a similar load-out. "When I'm downrange in Badguyland that's the configuration I need to have confidence in maneuvering, and that's where I think the F-35 starts to edge out an aircraft like the F-16," Kloos says.
A combat-configured F-16 is encumbered with weapons, external fuel tanks, and electronic countermeasures pods that sap the jet's performance. "You put all that on, I'll take the F-35 as far as handling characteristic and performance, that's not to mention the tactical capabilities and advancements in stealth," he says. "It's of course way beyond what the F-16 has currently."
The F-35's acceleration is "very comparable" to a Block 50 F-16. "Again, if you cleaned off an F-16 and wanted to turn and maintain Gs and [turn] rates, then I think a clean F-16 would certainly outperform a loaded F-35," Kloos says. "But if you compared them at combat loadings, the F-35 I think would probably outperform it."

Read the whole thing but that puts a fork into the heart of the Bill Sweetmans and Carlos Kopps that claim that the F-35 can't compete with 4th gen fighters. 
 

From US News DotMil Blog...

 So when the F-22 oxygen system flaws led Panetta to step in, there were whispers in defense circles that the F-35 might be prone to spawning the same pilot wooziness.
Lockheed Martin responded to DOTMIL after multiple requests for comment, sounding a confident tone.
"They are different systems," Lockheed spokesman Michael Rein says. "The F-35 and F-22 have common aircraft oxygen system suppliers but the systems are very different...The two systems each utilize a similar approach and architecture, but they are packaged and implemented differently.
"The F-35 program continuously monitors issues present in other aircraft assessing applicability to our current design," Rein says. "The program has leveraged the lessons learned from F-22 development to enhance the F-35 across all subsystems, including the Onboard Oxygen Generating System."

Another punch in the gut to the critics.  Different system so NO.  The F-35 will not be affected by whatever is wrong with the F-22.

Next we have Element of Power Blog... 

The Concurrency Bogeyman is not going to disappear until people who use it get called out for their lies, so 'good on' Bucci and the Heritage foundation!
Awww. The Usual F-35 Hatin' Suspects seem to have shown up at the Heritage site with their usual quiver full of lies, half-truths, and distortions. How quaint. They range from ignorant to stupid-but they're quaint. Around here people say 'Bless their hearts' when we see that kind of lunacy.

Three different blogs...all come to the same conclusion.  And if all that isn't enough, the testing program is rolling full speed ahead...

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Cmdr. Eric Buus brings F-35C Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft CF-3 in for a landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., May 29. The flight was the 300th flight for the F-35’s carrier variants and evaluated improvements in flight control laws for carrier approaches. The F-35C carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B variants with its larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear to withstand catapult launches and deck landing impacts associated with the demanding aircraft carrier environment. The F-35C is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River prior to delivery to the fleet.