Reply to post: "F35 is an expensive abomination of very questionable use"

"F35 is an expensive abomination of very questionable use"

Not sure about your arithmetic, Peter2, but your assessment of the aircraft is in line with most objective, knowledgeable observers: it's a ridiculously expensive POS. The vested interests—Lockheed; the Congresscritters whose pork has been purchased; and those taking orders in the military—have to pretend the plane is worthwhile, and have to lie to everyone else for money and career, but very few uncontaminated observers see much good in the F-35.

The stealth is a rapidly-obsoleting "feature", which actually severely limits the plane's ordnance loadout and performance while costing vast amounts of time and money to keep intact. The ordnance and range are pathetic. The losses of a single-engined plane are going to be bad even in peacetime, no matter which political idiots clai that there will "never" be engine failures. It is useless for close air support and too expensive to risk in low-level roles anyway, and cannot risk engagement with almost any other competent fighter because it "Can't climb, can't turn, can't run". Its supposed assets and ludicrously optimistic wargaming are all founded on the quicksand of dumb faith: that fancy stand-off technology will magically help it shoot down enemies before they even know it's there. A crummy old fourth-gen fighter flown by a dogfighter mentality needs to put just a single round of 30-mil through the F-35's only engine and it's game over. Alternatively, a bird strike can bugger up the stealth coating and put the expensive jewel in the body-and-paint shop for three solid days.

It's gobstoppingly amazing that the US didn't learn from the mistakes made with F-111, a similar one-size-fits-all fiasco; or from the F-4, sent to Vietnam without a cannon because, hey, missiles will work perfectly and dogfighting just won't happen.

It's even more shocking that British procurement was so stunningly stupid. Specifying the QE class without CATOBAR has trapped the Brits into using the F-35's worst variant of all—especially since we basically gave away the Sea Harriers well before the end of their service life ... yeah, the only V/STOL aircraft actually proven in combat. Not that it will matter in the long run, of course. Having slashed the acquisition of support ships for battlegroups that would protect the carriers, their life expectancy against any serious adversary is hours or days at most.

The QEs and their crappy planes can look forward to a dismal career lurking off flyspecked Third World coastlines flying very short attack missions using very expensive ordnance to blow up very cheap pickup trucks belonging to suspected possible maybe terrorists, or massacring the occasional tribal wedding.

Utter shambles.