what makes the f-35 so special the f-35 fighter is considered by many
as the most lethal and versatile aircraft of the modern era former defense secretary
james mattis even called the f-35 critical for the united states air superiority and
praised its ability to integrate seamlessly with allies who have purchased the aircraft
the f-35 serves as the backbone of allied air power for 13 nations and counting lockheed martin
claims on its website playing a critical role in joint domain operations the fighter brings
unprecedented situational awareness information sharing and connectivity to the coalition
f-35 under attack however according to tobias negle of air force magazine back last year
in the battle of the budget the air force and its premier acquisition program
the f-35 fighter is under attack house armed services committee chairman representative adam
smith launched his opening salvo calling the f-35 a rat hole and saying he wants
to figure out how we can get a mix of fighter attack aircraft that's the most cost effective
megal added that it's a curious choice of words while the projected life cycle
costs for all three versions of the f-35 over a span of nearly 40 years is 1.6 trillion dollars
the 80 million per copy cost to acquire these jets is less than some last generation aircraft and a
bargain considering the combat multiplying effect of this vastly superior platform
he continued if the f-35 didn't work if it couldn't evade radar couldn't fly in combat
couldn't compete with the most sophisticated air defenses in the world than it would be
right to call it quits but staying the course on f35 is not buying into a sunk cost fallacy
where one keeps doubling down on a losing bet in the hopes that things will turn around later
already a success
according to negl and many other aviation enthusiasts and experts
the f-35 is already a roaring success in the red flag exercises the u.s air
force's premier air combat exercise pilots only have raved about the jets performance
even registering a 20 to one kill ratio against a simulated enemy ryan pickerell a business insider
noted that the first details from the exercise suggest that the fifth generation stealth fighters
dominated the opposition with even novice pilots racking up kills the u.s air force put the f-35
up against the most advanced weapon systems out there during a recent red flag exercise
even in this extremely challenging environment the f-35 didn't have many difficulties doing its job
colonel joshua wood 388th operations group commander explained in a u.s air force statement
my wingman was a brand new f-35a pilot seven or eight flights out of training he gets on the
radio and tells an experienced three thousand hour pilot in a very capable fourth generation aircraft
hey bud you need to turn around you're about to die there's a threat off your nose he continued
the pilot eventually took out the enemy jet and then went on to net three more kills
i've never seen anything like it before would said
you