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Originally Posted by TLAM Strike
How is that not useful? Takeoff from short or unpaven fields is something the US Military has been lacking for a very long time. What happens when someone bombs and airfield and fighters can't take off?
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Then what, we're going to base even closer to that threat which is good enough to successfully put holes in a USAF/USMC runway (basing closer is demanded by F-35B's reduced numbers, mission radius, and weapons carriage) in an unprepared airfield? Give me a break. It (forward VTOL basing of fast jets) sounds cool, but really isn't operationally helpful/feasible.
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Or if you have to invade a country like Afganstain where there are no pristine airfields to use? This is why the RAF uses the BAe Harrier, and why the USAF is considering the F/A-35B.
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Which they have NEVER done. Simply because it's risky. And I don't think any armed service in their right mind is going to be putting a circa $75 million dollar VLO airframe in a place where it is vulnerable to mortar attacks and the like. And BTW, what would have kept F-16s landing at Afghan airfields shortly after it was secured other than security issues? I mean, that's the kind of thing the Seabees and USAF equivalent exist for, right?
The F-35B is useless to USMC (and the US taxpayer in general) because: what does all of 8 F-35s on a Marine deck get you? They cannot support ground forces with any meaning because of the pitiful sortie rate/weapons carriage offered. To move Marines ashore against any real opposition the USMC _needs_ to have its hands held by a REAL carrier group. F-35B is a product to be sold to Navies that can't afford real carriers. R&D funded by the US taxpayer.
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The only major diffrence with the C model is that it has bigger gear undercarage with a double forward wheel, wider wings and anti-corrosion paint. The great thing about the F/A-35 is that each model is basicly the same aircraft with a few changes to the airframe or the additon of a lift fan (which personaly I dislike because its unable to VIFF and is dead weight after takeoff.)
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Joint in logistics. There is nothing common about where F-35s can be based though.
PD