"F-35s at Red Flag" Topic

Funny I didn't see this posted here as most things about the F-35 on this forum are negative: link

It definitely isn't cheap, but when paired with the F-22 it is going to be an unstoppable combo. I'm not even sure that they've unlocked everything it can do at this point and it will be interesting to see the tactics that they come up with. I think it just goes to show that with new weapons systems you need to be patient more often than not.

I don't think the issue with the F35 is potential capability; it's one of cost or bang for the buck.

Even in the article you linked to, the F35 needed the F22 to defend against the air threat. At the same time, the Army needs a Close Air Support capability, hence why the A10 has survived so long. The AF claims the F35 can also provide CAS, but the question will always be why would you put such an expensive asset against ground targets, especially when it's a mission the AF does not like.

You're right about the tech; patience is needed and I'm sure it will evolve as required, and there will be hiccups. But given the cost, will they every have enough to carry out all their missions?

The way its described in the article the F-35 becomes an airborne command post run by one man. The rest of the pilots didn't even care if it was armed! For that matter hasn't the F-22 already stopped production because of the replacement by the F-35?

The latest low initial rate production buy on the F-35 is coming in at about $100 USD million per with the costs targeted to settle in at $85 USD million per. That is substantially less than the F-22 in 2017 dollars but the F-22 was cut short due to cost which with a total buy less than 200, simply amortizes the R&D costs over too few units. A full F-35 buy from all the foreign buyers plus the 2000 or so from the services should yield a fairly F-15 like cost efficiency over time.