[ravager]

Sorry but there is no news flash. F-35 development is still WAY behind schedule not to mention the costs are going to be enormous and its technological edge isnt going to be all that great by the time it comes out. It production time lines are FAR behind schedule. As for Royal Navy.... they got rid of their Harriers and now they don't have an aircraft carrier. They spent enormous money to turn their ski jump carrier to flat tops only to spent yet more money revert back to ski-jump to operate F-35Bs of lower capability. And currently they don't have any ACs. India even with her Gorshkov delays will soon field a 4 ACs navy. 2 of them being indigenously built.

While whatever the US herself uses may be the best in the world, what US is willing to sell to the world is definitely far from being the best. LM and Boeing couldn't even win the Indian MMRCA competition where it had a fair chance. US F-16s and F-18E crapped in the trials.

As for unmanned autonomous combat aircraft, those are wildly optimistic time frames. Forget going into production, we are yet to see even a prototype flying. And with the type of budget cuts we saw for F-22s and F-35s, very likely we wont even see a prototype flying until the next decade.

And thanks for the suggestion. I do Google searches everyday. Google is not a “source”. And you dont even know enough to tell me what sources are reliable, so lets just leave it there.

[Rockingham]

The F-35 will work out, just as other troubled US aircraft programs were made to work out. Anticipated F-35 range limitations can and will be addressed through measures like increased fuel capacity, more fuel efficient engines, higher energy fuels, and fuel management strategies. Supposedly, in testing, F-35 fuel burn is running below expectations.

I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall that India recently cancelled her fourth carrier due to budget considerations.

The US has an unmanned X-47B combat aircraft technology demonstrator built and flying, with the first carrier launches and recoveries planned for 2013 and autonomous aerial refueling in 2014. If testing goes well, limited US deployment of an unmanned naval combat aircraft is seen as possible as early as 2018.