Wow. That PDF report shows the F-35 to be incapable of just about anything. It couldn’t even out dogfight an F-16 that had full external fuel tanks to limit the F-16 to 7.0g.
” ... It couldn’t even out dogfight an F-16 that had full external fuel tanks ...”
Even if this is an accurate summary, it misses the point.
The F-35 was not designed for air-to-air combat. If it had been, other capabilities would have been diminished.
The public’s conception of air combat is somewhat out-of-date anyway: dogfighting has been on the wane since the 1930s at least.
The egoes of fighter pilots - never a small thing - cannot permit them to admit it, though.
And it’s just possible they enjoy the hero-worship that washes over them, from star-struck lesser mortals at all points of the compass.