I am not a pilot and I have no special knowledge about fighter planes, but in 2017 I had lunch at a small club in Hawaii which overlooks Pearl harbor with my BIL who was an Air Force F16 pilot and three other Air Force F35 pilots who used to fly F16s. The F35 pilots were discussing technical matters with my BIL and I could not understand a word of what they were saying. I thought, as you do, that the F35 was not very good, based on all that I had heard. Finally, I interrupted them and asked why the F35 was so bad. The conversation came to a complete halt and there was silence for a few seconds, until one of the pilots asked me if I had not been listening to anything they were saying. In their view, the F35 was an outstanding fighter and was so much better than anything else that they compared flying against other fighters to "clubbing baby seals". I do not know what to believe, but I have to respect their judgment on that.
Looks at Posts 24 & 36...
I’ve heard a LOT of conflicting stories, and read a LOT of conflicting articles of F-22 v F-35.
They may love them, but they can only love them when the planes are operational and 2/3rds are not. Plus, the pilots do not care about the trillions of $$ needed to maintain them.