Posted on 08/06/2016 9:53:52 AM PDT by Mariner
America's most expensive weapons program is rolling in good news this week.
On the heels of the US Air Force's decision to declare its version of the F-35 ready for war, a new report from the Heritage Foundation complied interviews from Air Force pilots to compare the fifth-generation jet to previous fighter jets.
"Only the pilots who have flown the fighter actually know how well the Air Force version of the F-35 can perform, and the 31 who were surveyed for this paper expressed a high degree of confidence in this extraordinary fighter," wrote the report's author, John Venable, a senior research fellow for defense policy and a retired US Air Force Thunderbird commander.
His findings: Pilots prefer the F-35.
Currently the Air Force is scheduled to buy nearly 70% of the fifth-generation jets being made domestically — 1,763 of 2,443 aircraft. As the largest buyer of F-35s, the Air Force sets the economies of scale for the tri-service fighter, with each plane costing a cool $100 million.
Venable's report urges the full planned buy of F-35As as the Air Force is operating the oldest fleet in its history and the F-35 is a "generational leap beyond other multirole fighters."
Here's a look at more of Venable's findings ...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
The group that has flown the F 35 is a small and identifiable group. Did you expect them to say it was not a good aircraft?
Do you expect all of them to lie to their fellow airmen?
Just another white elephant. Will be useless in 4th generation warfare.
I notice a Turkish flag in the photograph of the assembly line. Is it smart to sell this to Turkey at this time? No.
4th generation warfare on a large scale inevitably goes hot and back to basics.
put them in the F-22 and ask them to choose.
F-35 ... if your opponent is long range and no dog fighting is required
if they want to continue their careers... yes
welcome to the 0bama military
Wow.. that thing is TINY.
And I like the HUD (HMD) concepts. Turning the jet invisible for a bit. The tech that went into that is seriously next gen.
For air superiority nothing even approaches the F-22.
And for deep interdiction against an advanced A2/AD opponent, nothing even approaches the F-35.
You are saying that 31 of the USAF's top pilots have no honor.
If these test pilots state that the F35A is an excellant fighter plane I’ll take their word for it over some talking head who never flew a plane.
Afterall these are the guys who would be putting their butts on the line if the plane turns out to be a turkey.
It was pilots like these that helped with the design of the 3 most deadly fighters in the last 30 years.The F15 Eagle,F16 Falcon and the F18 hornet.
Analysts in the past also stated that those planes were nothing but gold plated birds that would not survive in combat.
It could very well be cherry-picked information.
It is certainly a high political-pressure issue, like women in combat-roles.
The aircraft that Turkey receives will be a lot different than ones that American, British, or Israeli pilots will fly.
put them in the F-22 and ask them to choose.
F-35 ... if your opponent is long range and no dog fighting is required
________________________________________________________
ALL F35 Pilots were F-22 Pilots first most also flew either the Eagle or F18.
The 35 is a very advanced plane. It is however not designed for close in dog fighting with guns, it is designed to kill the enemy before the enemy even knows the 35 is in the vicinity. Read a little more about it before you condemn it. So far in battles with the F22 it has won EVERY battle with up to 3 F22’s going against one F35. The same is true for the F15 for up to 5 15’s against one F35. This plane is a killer of enemy planes and it does it so before they know they are even targeted. These were Top Guns trying to get the F35 and they were unable to do it even in a coordinated attack.
“You are saying that 31 of the USAF’s top pilots have no honor. “
In this politicized administration and military: Yes, I AM saying that! Of course, honor is career suicide in this environment.
You are correct. All were met with nearly universal derision when first introduced.
Even perfection would not be good enough for this class of critics and ignoramuses.
"It doesn't carry enough internal fuel to go sub-orbital if it needs to"!
"It's not invisible to the naked eye"!
Its payload is insufficient to destroy a continent should the need arise"!
Despicable.
It came along fairly late in the development timeline, too. I'd like to see the same helmet and weapons load-out tried in the F-15C and F-16 (since both will remain in the picture for years). Maybe use it in the back seat of the Strike Eagle, too.
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