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| Future F-35 gobbler? |
“The JSF does not have a high-end air-to-air capability,” he told the conference. We need to have both aircraft.”...Italian Air Force Col. Vito Cracas, commander of the 36th Fighter Wing (quote is via an Aviation Week article found here).It can be assumed that the Colonel has had the full F-35 briefing. It can further be assumed that he is a professional with an eye toward making sure that his nation AND personnel are as protected as possible.
And there is no reason for him to lie.
You heard it here second.
The F-35 is NOT a high end air to air fighter.
Which means the Navy, Air Force and our allies are about to buy an airplane THAT IS NOT COMPETITIVE with the new stealth fighters from Russia and China.
Guess we should have gone with the F-22?
ReplyDeleteyeah. something else i was wrong about. i rode the F-22 hard because of price but its becoming obvious that it was a better buy than i realized. additionally it looks like its bringing things to the table that we desperately need.
Deletethe X-47 can do the deep strike mission, but we need more air superiority fighters.
we should have gone with the F-22. hindsight is 20/20.
"The F-35 is NOT a high end air to air fighter."
ReplyDeleteMostly, thank the Marine Corps (for the wide body to accommodate the lift fan).
Also some credit to stealth, with internal weapons compartments.
After all, it's basically a stealth (low-capacity) bomber with "fighter" in its name only, also with an ability for STOVL and an as yet untested ability for CV..
A plane for all seasons, but not world class in any of them.
no. you're not getting it. read the article but what the Italian Colonel is saying is that the f-35 is inferior to the Typhoon.
Deleteadditionally i wonder why the lift fan continues to get blame for the bloat in the plane. the weapons bay would have required a large body regardless. it can be seen on the F-22.
that is one wives tale that i would like to see crushed. stealth is the blame. internal weapons carriage is the blame, not a freaking lift fan.
Typhoon photo
Deletehttp://www.airpowerworld.info/jet-fighter-planes/raf-typhoon-jet-fighter.jpg
F-35B
http://chinadefense.blogspot.com/2012/10/us-new-photo-f-35bs-portholes.html
The F-22 is more aerodynamically efficient design, which is not surprising. The F-35 is an aircraft of compromises.
Deletei won't argue that, but it can be pointed out that the Russian designed vertical landing airplane was much more aerodynamic than the F-35. to not place any blame on the stealth, or carrier requirements or the internal payload requirements and to only focus on the lift fan just sends me up a hill.
DeleteLift fan accounts to large degree size fuselage crossection ,russians used lift jets that were a fraction of the size that lift fan takes.
DeleteI am afraid we see one day pretty soon how good the F35 really is...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25062525
I can't believe nobody else has caught on to this since yesterday. It's HUGE.
DeleteI bet we see militarization of the rest of the Sakishima islands by Japan soon. They've avoided it in the past, but this is playing right into Japan's plans to build up its military.
Ishigaki Island has a new 2000 meter runway (golly, what a coincidence)
Miyako Island also has a 2000 meter runway.
what do you bet we see an 'exercise' with USMC F-18s and JSDF F-15s in that area within a month or so?
If the Okinawans are tired of the Marines
Perhaps the air to air missions will be flown by UCAV such as the X-47 leaving the F-35B to do the mission that require a manned system. This is like tasking the AV-8 with MiGCAP and interception of High speed low drag full on dog fighters.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't make sense unless the nation doesn't expect to fight anyone with a high tech Air Force.
do you really think, china and russia have better ones? maybe russia, but china? no, dont think so.
ReplyDeleteRussia is expected to produce a total of 70 T-50's. 70.
ReplyDeleteRussia may be expected to produce a total of 70 T-50s, but India is looking to manufacture them under license for export by 2020 according to news releases. https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/india-russia-in-negotiations-re-nextgeneration-fighter-03133/
ReplyDeleteRight now India is looking at enough T-50s to go nose to nose with American F-22's in terms of total squadron strength. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-18/india/44201174_1_india-s-fgfa-project-indian-designers-and-scientists
How many of those T-50s do you think they will sell to Taiwan? How many to the rest of the South East Asian and Pacific Island nations? Food for thought anyways, especially if they can keep the cost for a delivered product below 100 million US, it will dominate the market (although final costs remain to be seen).