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Old 03-05-09, 12:36 AM   #2
Max2147
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Keep in mind that's a Lockheed PR video. I'm sure Lockheed wouldn't mind the DOD buying some more F-22's, even if it's at the expense of a few F-35's.

That said, I've never been terribly impressed with the F-35. In air-to-air it's good, but nowhere near the F-22's level. It's primary mission will be ground attack, but its need to carry all its weapons internally for stealth will be a huge drawback, since it's not a very big plane. You can put stuff on the external hardpoints, but once you do that you destroy the stealth. A non-stealthy F-35 is no better than an F-16 and probably worse than an F-18 (for a strike mission).

Supposedly the big advantage of the F-35 is that it can carry out a strike mission and defend itself in air-to-air combat. But it can't do both effectively at the same time because of the lack of internal weapon storage space. If you arm it with air to air missiles for self-defense you're not going to have much room left for air to ground weapons.

The F-35 will be good at a lot of things, but except for SEAD missions it won't really be great at anything. It tries to do too many things with one airframe, and the result is a plane that's too much of a compromise on everything.

What the Air Force needs is a plane that can pack the ground attack punch of an A-10 with but be safe from SAMs. It needs a stealthy dedicated ground attack aircraft. The F-35 won't be any good for close air support, and that's a void that needs to be filled. This plane would need a big internal bomb bay to carry a lot of weapons while still being stealthy, and it would probably need to be twin engined to carry the load and be more survivable. Low speed maneuverability would be more important than outright speed, so it could even be subsonic. Forget air-to-air capability except for Sidewinders - stealth would be its main defense, and we certainly have enough fighters to give it a fighter escort. Give it all the latest and greatest in sensors, so it would have true all-weather capability. Finally, give it a nice big gun!
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