That statement is at least misleading.
The F-35 can take any aircraft in the sky except the F-22.
It has superior radar, Fire Control, data links to other aircraft...etc.
It's nearly invisible to any radar on the F-15C or any version of the F-16.
Now, if your measure is dollars per G-force or Mach rating...may as well buy Russian or Chinese. They beat the F-22 in those immaterial ratings with their most advanced airframes.
The F-35 ALSO has the ability to control and manage un-manned fighter drones via the datalink in it's radar package.
Lemme see: Put up a squadron of F-35s with 4 drones apiece, flying at Mach 1.2...cruising....35,000ft. Not seen by ground radar or AWACS...certainly not visible to airborne radar of their opponents until AFTER missile release.
Against 4 squadrons of F-16 or any F-18/F-15 variant and you tell us, who will win?
>>The F-35 can take any aircraft in the sky except the F-22.<<
You are speaking of the one they wanted not the one they got. The F-35 project has been rife with falling well short of expectations.
I haven’t seen any head to head reports but everything I have read says the new generation F-16s and F-18s have been close to a match.
You both understate the abilities of the F-16/18s (and the price points) and way overstate the deployed capabilities of the F-35. The one they are trying to deploy is a brick with wings.
Whether there is any point to manned jets at all is a discussion that would be interesting, but on another thread.
>>The F-35 can take any aircraft in the sky except the F-22.<<
You are speaking of the one they wanted not the one they got. The F-35 project has been rife with falling well short of expectations.
I haven’t seen any head to head reports but everything I have read says the new generation F-16s and F-18s have been close to a match.
You both understate the abilities of the F-16/18s (and the price points) and way overstate the DEPLOYED capabilities of the F-35. The one they are trying to deploy is a brick with wings.
Whether there is any point to manned jets at all is a discussion that would be interesting, but on another thread.