Back in 2017, the naysayers were inferring that the F-35 was given "easy" ROE that resulted in the positive combat assessments. Reading this article in detail, it seems pretty clear that Red Flag scenarios have actually become harder in the past decade, not easier.
I guess the last bastion of defence for the naysayers is that all these Lt Cols are in on the conspiracy and are being ordered to tell lies. The "F-35 is crap" school of thought is rapidly approaching, if not already at, the untenable state.
As long as there is one less than perfect reporting factor the "F-35 is crap" school will have ammunition to argue on. And the only way a report will be all glowing is if someone sanitizes it, honest and unbiased reports always have lessons learned, nothing is perfect and so everything can be improved. In order to improve you must highlight deficiencies, no matter how few or small. So the nay sayers will always have ammo.
And no matter how good the F-35 is, the haters will always be able to find other platforms that do any one little thing better. If you cherry pick your data you can prove anything you want.
It is becoming apparent the F-35 is a good addition to the US inventory, with a probably long future of support.
People who claim "stealth" is useless or has been rendered obsolete have no concept of the modern battlespace. People who claim the F-35 is too expensive have not done an honest, unbiased, assessment of what any new development competitive fighter would cost. The F-15X is touted by some as a "less expensive" fighter option, obviously those people have not looked at the projected flyaway cost of that aircraft. At one time there was talk of a "reduced cross section Super Hornet" as an F-35 alternate option, but the existing F-18F's are only ~15% under the F-35A cost, is there any doubt reducing the RCS of the Hornet would not raise the cost up into the same price point as the F-35?
There is no doubt, the F-35 has been an expensive program. It has been a long project. The individual unit cost is high. But the reality is that it is unlikely a competitive aircraft could be developed and built for significantly less than what it has taken. Could China do it for less? Sure, with workers earning a fraction of the pay, MUCH fewer legal restraints and regulation to deal with, and huge portions of the development budget being obscurated or unaccounted for as part of other projects.
The eventual replacement for the F-35, or the F-22, or the F-18, will be an even more expensive project, with a longer time line. Of course, it is likely to be a UCAV, so these may be the last of the fully manned fighters.
T!