It's no secret that we at War Is Boring are skeptics when it comes to the F-35 Lightning II. The new, radar-evading, "fifth-generation" warplane is years late, over-budget and  —  by virtue of its many, sometimes contradictory missions  —  represents a design compromise, meaning it's okay at lots of tasks but excels at none of them. Still, the U.S. military plans to replace nearly all of its current tactical jets with as many as 2,400 F-35s at a total program cost, including maintenance, of around $1 trillion.The U.S. Air Force, one of the F-35's main proponents, is understandably optimistic about...