For the price of one F35 - you could buy 3 F16s and a refueler...
The question is, could an F-35 eat three F-16’s and the refuler?
And those F-16s would not be able to penetrate sophisticated A2/AD defenses, returning to the dust from which they came.
“For the price of one F35 - you could buy 3 F16s and a refueler...”
Nope. The flyaway cost of the F-35A (actual cost to manufacture the aircraft) is right around $100 million at this point and dropping. A current model F-16 is around $60 million.
For the extra dollars you get stealth, much better sensors, and game-changing electronics/computers.
F-35 stealth is pretty good, they are cleaning up F-15s and F-16s in exercises.