This attack on Camp Bastionhas nothing to do with the Performance capability or use doctrine for the F-35B.
The only way to prevent situations like that attack is to have a forward looking defence with wide and clear zones of approach.
During the Vietnam war the Vietcong were able to do the same stunt at Danang Air Base even thought it was guarded by a heavy Marine Presence.
We just have to deal with attacks like this as long as we are involved in a war there.
It’s also good to learn from past mistakes.So we don’t continue to repeat them.
The nature of war is that people get killed and things get blown up. This argues that you don’t go to war unless you have to. Then, when you go to a war of choice, as in Afghanistan, you go there with overwhelming force, achieve victory, and then get out of there. (The rules differ when, as in WWII, you are in an existential war and overwhelming force isn’t an option.)
Clearly these rules were violated in Iraq and in Afghanistan. We won those wars within weeks in the sense of demolishing the other side. And then we got into “reconstructing” those countries. One of the reasons I voted for BUsh in 2000 is because he said that was inappropriate for the U.S. We’re the world’s superpower, which means we’re the envy of the world, and either hated or despised, or feared and respected, depending on how we conduct ourselves. If you want peace keepers, let the Moroccans and the Brazilians send in the blue helmets, but do not use our military.
Now I speak with candor about Marine aviation and the F-35. The F-35 is a gen 4.5 warplane. Its mission is to secure air dominance. The mission of Marine aviation is not air dominance but is to provide close support to ground operations. If you have air dominance, from Air Force and Naval air, then Harriers, A-10s, Apaches, and, heck, even P-38s and P-51s would be sufficient. You want to have these warcraft near the front, so they can be quick on target, to deliver their ordinance.
Over in the Army, traditionally, you’d be thinking of bringing in artillery from fire bases, such as we had in Viet Nam; but, given the vast distances involved, the rugged conditions, and issues of strategic deployments, even the Army is de-emphasizing artillery in favor of relying on air assets for fire support.
So why is the F-35 being delivered to the Marines? Because it is way more expensive. This way the military industrial complex can replace Harriers that originally cost $20 million, with aircraft that have a profit margin ten times that and so what if it costs the taxpayer 50 times that.