F-35 assessment: it won't survive an air-to-air fight!

[james84]

http://www.f-16.net/news_article4416.html

[tango234]

Ouch...

[MIKE JG]

The Russians and the rest of the world should be worried about these, not 5th gen manned fighters.....

[black hammer]

Hello Mike. I'm a little bit out of touch these days with the current military projects, so I'm just wondering if the uav in that picture is Bae systems Taranis, or some other project that I'm unaware of?

[reconmercs]

The more I hear about the F-35, the more I wish they'd cancel it before its too late....

[Firebird]

You and the RAF, mate.

[MIKE JG]

That's a picture of Boeing's Phantom Ray UCAS demonstrator.

[james84]

The more I hear about the F-35, the more I wish they'd cancel it before its too late....

I posted the same link on an Italian forum and somebody commented that so far the F-35 project has costed TOOOOOOOOOOO much that cancelling it would be a big mistake.
I think the French and the Germans did a good thing to stay away from it and not to get involved, relying on Mirages, Rafales and Typhoons.
Sincerely speaking, I expect the F-35 to share the same reliabilty trouble as the F-22. Simple things, but enough to ground the whole fleet. The problem is that many of the Western countries will rely on the new aircraft!
IMHO, getting updated F-16s or Gripens would have been a wise (and cheaper) decision for the countries involved in the JSF project that don't need a strong airforce (Netherlands, Norway, Denmark...), whereas bigger countries (Italy, UK) could get more Typhoons.

[warhawk121]

heyas guys another newbie joining the forums here..

personally i think F-35 has been a massive white whale for the MOD especially after all the slashing cuts made in the SDSR personally i would have either brought Rafale M, buy either Legacy or FA18 E/F model Hornets with a mix of Growlers and a minimum of 3-4 e2c's to embark on the new Queen Elizabeth class carriers if they ever see the light of day.

JSF is too expensive and hasnt even been combat proven unlike the Superhornets, Rafale and the like. i'd rather have seen the money invested in a combat proven platform than something that may even get cancelled.

[MIKE JG]

But....but....but....it's got all the bells and whistles.....

/sarcasm

[Firebird]

... but can it tell jokes and remotely operate the garage door?

[black hammer]

That's a picture of Boeing's Phantom Ray UCAS demonstrator.

ok, cheers for the info Mike.