Darin Russell via USAF
David Axe, Daily Beast: Air Force Admits: Our New Stealth Fighter Can’t Fight
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is supposed to replace almost 90 percent of America’s tactical aviation fleet. Too bad it ‘wasn’t optimized for dogfighting,’ according to the Air Force.
The U.S. Air Force has finally admitted that its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter isn’t maneuverable enough to beat older jets in a dogfight. But despite its earlier promises that the pricey, radar-evading warplane would excel in close combat, now the flying branch insists that the stealthy F-35 doesn’t even need to dogfight.
At a conference in Maryland on Sept. 15, Gen. Herbert Carlisle, head of the Air Force’s Air Combat Command, described the F-35 as not maneuverable as some of its predecessors.
“That’s not what the airplane was designed to do,” Carlisle added, according to National Defense magazine. “It’s a multi-role airplane that has an incredibly comprehensive, powerful, integrated avionics and sensor suite.”
WNU Editor: This is a good one .... F-35 critics are "haters" .... Air Force chief rebuts F-35 haters, calls for more modernization (Ars Technica).
1 comment:
A while ago I read an article that suggested that all (present and coming) opponents of the US should be extremely supportive to the F-35 program, because of the incredible amount of funds it drains from other essential developments and sorely needed refurbishments.
Together with the DDG-1000, the F-35 may be likened to cancer, devouring resources required to keeo the whole system running.
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