Is the F-35 worth the cost?

Sferrin wants to be a jerk about the F-35 and whether it brings value?

Ok.  I'll play. Via Military.com

The Army would shrink to 380,000 troops, the Marines Corps to 150,000. The Navy would lose three carriers, and the Air Force would begin mothballing its B-52 bomber fleet under a worst-case budget scenario outlined Wednesday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

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The choice under the automatic budget cuts of sequestration came down to one between troops and new weapons systems, Hagel said. Defense leaders who led the review favored funding cyberwarfare, and such weapons systems as the F35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Littoral Combat Ship over personnel.
"We did not find any particular capability that we could do away with" and still maintain overall combat power, a senior Pentagon official said at a later background briefing of the proposed new weapons systems.
Winnefeld said the review was the result of a "deep and very painful look into every corner of our institution."
"Nobody was very happy" with the outcome, he said

Combat experience is being sacrificed on the altar of technological superiority.  But even that is in doubt when you consider the fact that the F-35 Program Manager has been quoted as saying that the secrets to the F-35 have shown up in Chinese aircraft under development and that he isn't sure that the contractors have secured their information against further hacking.

So with an Army that needs a new Ground Combat Vehicle and Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle...A Marine Corps that needs a new Amphibious Combat Vehicle...A Navy that would like to maintain 12 carriers.

Is the F-35 worth the cost?