The same have been said about every new design. Phantom is absolete since late 1970s. Getting rid of it for a new plane is a good thing.
The same have been said about every new design.
No. That is manifestly untrue and a canard. The plane is not ready for anything other than a complete redesign - it flies well, looks good, but most of its critical internal AI systems either do not work or only work once in a while - if they are even installed.
No other plane, declared combat ready, has had such a dismal combat readiness rate of only 5%, with no fixes for some of the critical systems ready, or even contemplated.
Think about it - with an air wing of 20 planes, for example, only 5 are mission capable, the rest are either hanger queens, spare parts or in lengthy maintenance.
The F-35 program ranks with the DDG-1000 LCS Class and the CVN Ford Class as the biggest waste of money for Perfumed Princes’ toys that do not work as advertised, but cost the lions share of the military’s budget.