Wildcat
Major
If you guys don't want it, I'm sure there's a few companies down here that want the business!
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You know Joe, as good as the F35 may be, the aircraft is so expensive that my country will only buy 35 of them. Given that 1/3rd will be in maitenance a any given time, some will stay in the US and a flight will be on oversea missions, that doesn't leave us much to defend our own country. And almost nothing as a reserve. As most of those oversea missions can easily be pulled off by less capable aircraft, I still wonder if the government was right in buying this aircraft. A lesser capable, but cheaper aircraft could have been bought in greater numbers, giving us more reserve. Apart from the fact that we now buy this in the US (no offence) while an aircraft like the Grippen would have been bought within our own economical EU zone.
I am not opposed to the aircraft persee, fully aware of the capabillities of this aircraft, but giving our own situation, it just might not have been the best option to buy.
This weekend, during the airforce days at Leeuwarden, the two F35's were demo'ed. I think it has neve been as crowded on those days as this time. Almost 300000 people went there, giving the north of the country a trafic infarct of 2 days. Obviously, the aircraft is very popular here.
Obama....Why did they stop the production of the F-22?
You know Joe, as good as the F35 may be, the aircraft is so expensive that my country will only buy 35 of them. Given that 1/3rd will be in maitenance a any given time, some will stay in the US and a flight will be on oversea missions, that doesn't leave us much to defend our own country. And almost nothing as a reserve. As most of those oversea missions can easily be pulled off by less capable aircraft, I still wonder if the government was right in buying this aircraft. A lesser capable, but cheaper aircraft could have been bought in greater numbers, giving us more reserve.
Obama....
Cut the production short by about 100 aircraft
The question is what they will be used for. How big is the chance that our superb F-35 aircraft will meet a worthy opponent? Its great capabilities will be wasted on bombing those Isis a'holes.My thoughts keep going back to capability/survivability.
Do we want 30 aircraft that can compete in a real fight - or 100 aircraft that are in deep trouble vs. a capable opponent.
The question is what they will be used for. How big is the chance that our superb F-35 aircraft will meet a worthy opponent? Its great capabilities will be wasted on bombing those Isis a'holes.
Don't get me wrong, the F-35 is the best aircraft we can buy. I just hope we'll either buy a cheap type or maintain and upgrade a couple of F16's for missions where we don't want to risk one of those few F-35's.
On the other hand, the F-35 is only stealthy when it doesn't use the points on the wing, so only carying 2 bombs in the inner bay. When you use external points for carrying additional bombs, the advantage for stealth is gone. So stealth is not an issue in these missions. or you have to fly 3 times as often as the F-16, or have 3 times more aircraft to deliver the punch. As it will be now, we only have 3 times less F-35's as we have F-16's so the that won't work. External carying it should be then, making the F-35 about as vulnerable as the F-16, but much more expensive.There might be a time when the F-16 is too risky to use period. People that scoff at 'stealth' blow my mind. As if it's a binary quality. Imagine scoffing at 'speed' or 'firepower' ...
I don't know much about modern threats and their countermeasures ... but I wonder if current fighters will just be glorified COIN aircraft in the near future with more advanced systems getting into the hands of more and more factions all the time.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLXjfYDdYUo#t=0m56s
On the other hand, the F-35 is only stealthy when it doesn't use the points on the wing, so only carying 2 bombs in the inner bay. When you use external points for carrying additional bombs, the advantage for stealth is gone. So stealth is not an issue in these missions. or you have to fly 3 times as often as the F-16, or have 3 times more aircraft to deliver the punch. As it will be now, we only have 3 times less F-35's as we have F-16's so the that won't work. External carying it should be then, making the F-35 about as vulnerable as the F-16, but much more expensive.
But I am not talking about a modern air defence system. I am talking about the low-tech wars we have been fighting the last few decades. Yougoslavia, Afghanistan, Syria.I'm no expert but I'd bet money that that is a gross oversimplification of all the systems that make the F-35 more survivable than the F-16. The purpose of the F-35 with internal-only ordnance is to give you the option of hitting a target that the F-16 can't.
F-35: two bombs.
F-16: zero bombs (read: zero F-16. No chance of penetrating modern air defence network)
On the other hand, the F-35 is only stealthy when it doesn't use the points on the wing.