There is an attempt to make one airframe conform to WAY too many different (and contradictory) assigned duties, in a wrong-headed attempt to be “economical” (definitely a very misplaced thriftiness), and “universal”, serving highly disparate functions.
Literally HUNDREDS of different conformations for airplanes had been tried before and during the Second World War, but only a few of them became outstanding, and that was because each of them performed only a few well-defined functions, and were not fitted to some other role for which they were woefully inadequate.
You want close-order support of ground troops? Look no further than the truly amazing record of the A-10 Warthog, proven over and over to be one of the best strafing and ground support weapons systems ever designed, able to operate from very primitive forward airstrips, with remarkable abilities to return the pilot to base even in the presence of extreme damage to the airframe, capability to take out even relatively heavy armor with its nose cannon (the plane is virtually a flying cannon), and with its capability to carry air-to-surface missiles, it can sneak in at virtually treetop level, and come up on a target long before the defenses can be cranked down to even take aim. Literally, it can rain down hell on the enemy.
You want vertical take-off and landing? Helicopters have evolved a long way in the past 75 years or so, and even a Vietnam-era UH-1 Huey gunship was able to insert, take deadly aim, and clear or halt an assault by enemy infantry.
You want dogfight capability? The F-22, from what little I know of it, was superior in many ways to the F-35, but in current air war scenarios, this is of limited value, with air-to-air missiles using heat-seeking capabilities being of much greater utility than mounted cannon.
Much of what is claimed for the F-35 has been done already, and done better, by equipment that has been declared “obsolete”.
I like your comments about specialized aircraft like the WartHog. I admire it too.
I like the F-22 very much. It’s long range super-cruise w/o afterburners is amazing.
It has a long range.
I think we should have built more of them. They sold us the F35 as the go-to, but I don’t think it fills the bill for the F22.
IMO the F22 knocks out SAM sights and then allows other aircraft to come in after we’ve gained control of the air.
How many times since WW2 has the gun been declared obsolete as an air to air weapon, only to be resurrected?
With today's hyper-legalistic rules of engagement, do you think fighter pilots are ever going to be given a general OK to shoot beyond visual range?