Yes I HAVE read the JET reports. THEY ARE PROJECTIONS OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN!

1. That is so 20th century. This is the 21th century. Pure flight performance IS NOT THE BE ALL OF FIGHTER CAPABILITY. But still the F-35 (ESPECIALLY IN COMBAT CONFIGURATION) has quite good flight performance.

2. BS. The F-35 has all aspect stealth. Just because its RCS is not as small as the F-22 does NOT mean it is ‘dumbed down’, it is in fact still better than any other (not F-22) fighter.

3. Stop the wet dream of L-band radar defeating stealth. If L-band wew hafl as good as you dreamer want everyone to believe we would have never bothered with X-band radar.

4. No, YOU are ignoring that there were only 4 F-35 test aircraft delivered by the end of 2009 (due to production ramp up issues which have been addressed), in 2010 there will be 10 more delivered & the number of test flights completed will litterally “take off”.

Have you bothered to READ the 2008/2009 JET reports? The are accurate to the last word on what we have seen to date with the JSF Program. They are not worse case scenarios as evidenced by the removal of safety equipment to eek out extra pounds as documented elsewhere on this site.

Here a few facts for you to think over while drinking the LM/JSF mind altering Kool-Aid:

1. Total airframe performance has ALWAYS been the litmus test when comparing fighters in A2A, operations, and I will stand by 50 years of fighter history which support this statement. Superior speed and agility allow a fighter pilot to engage and disengage at will in a fight. This means in simple terms, when you run out of missiles/ammunition you can safely leave the combat area without dying!

2. The dumbed down level of stealth for the F-35 only works head on, it does not have all aspect stealth like the F-22 or the B-2. This mean that in a dog fight, the moment the JSF turns it becomes visible and can be killed. Now combine that with an inferior turn rate, poor top speed, and a inferior weapons payload and we have the makings of a disaster. This is made worse by the many 4.5 generation fighters now using very good AESA/PESA radar and IRST systems.

3. The AWACS aircraft now flying both in Russia and China are flying with L-band AESA which was designed specifically to counter and see the lower level of the stealth of the F-35. To make matters worse, this L-band AESA technology is now being incorporated into the latest Russian fighters (SU-35/PAK-FA) which already have a huge baseline performance advantage over the F-35. A JSF operating without air cover of a F-22 is a sitting duck if it encounters wither one of these fighters using L-Band AESA.

4. Your comments about the dismal flight test program of the F-35 ignore one important thing, if we compare the F-22 Program with the JSF Program, the Raptor already had a dozen airframes flying, with something like 800 test flights under their belt at this point in the test flight schedule. The F-35 at this point has has to press the reset button on the test flight schedule at least 6 times in the past 4 years. We can only hope that 2010 will be a better year then the rest, right?

The F-22 is already in service & the F-35 program HAS delivered on quite a significant number of ‘promises’ (& will deliver many more in the coming years).

JL

Compared to the F-35 the Block 60 F-16 & F-15SG ARE obsolete and would be a complete waste of money for the US to procure.

The F-22 is not an alternative to the F-35. Although we SHOULD be getting twice as many F-22s as we are but that is another topic…

The F-35 will enjoy a MORE than comfortable positive kill:loss ratio of any 4.5 generation fighter. Join the 21st century. Pure flight performance (which the F-35 has quite good, ESPECIALLY in combat configuration where 4.5 generation fighter lose a significant degree of performance vs their clean configuration) is NOT the be all that is all in fighter capability/performance.

It is pretty hard to do flight testing on aircraft that are still on the production line. But with ALL 13 test aircraft on track to be delivered by the end of 2010 you can bet the flight test program will literally TAKE OFF.

The farce is ignorant fools like you takes JET worse case scenario possibilities are actual state of affairs.

And then there’s the F-22 which will fly rings around the F-35 any day of the week in A2A operations. Of course the two words that Gates, Donley and company want to avoid are F-22, and now PAK-FA.

The JSF’s baseline performance is inferior to half a dozen 4.5 generation fighters flying right now, and its not even in production yet! And the plan is to base 95% of the US fighter force on this flying catastrophe which couldn’t make 15% of its scheduled flights last year?

The truth of the matter is that our Sec. Def ignored the 2008 JET report so that he could kill the Raptor, and further his political legacy without having a viable replacement.

How much longer is this farce going to continue while US taxpayer money goes down the drain?

That is no solution. In fact it would make things even worse. Not only would it cost MORE & take MORE time to develope the F-35 (since you want LM to pay for it out of its own pocket with no guarantee of return), we would be be buying obsolete legacy aircraft with money that SHOULD be used to buy F-35s.

You can throw as much money as you can borrow from the rest of the world at the JSF Program. LMT senior executives will love you for it but the truth is the JSF is already totally irrelevant and, moreover, ain’t going to do the job.

The JSF Program should have got an Oscar this week for Best Comedic Farce in the over 300 billion dollar category.

America, you are being duped and, mores the pity, you just know it.

Maintenance rates were improving and difficulties were exaggerated by the media and groups attacking the F-22.

Internal weapons load was fine for air-to-air combat, and it could carry some external stores. It will not match a F-15E for air-to-ground payload however.

The last thing the F-22A had a problem with was not being stealthy enough. A Flanker wouldn’t know what hit it.

and of course, stealth: visible to low frequency radars (now going into Eurofighter and Sukhoi 35)

False and misleading statements, oral or written, and the resulting deceptions are, in most western societies, known as unconscionable conduct which, last time I looked, are in breach of the laws of most western societies and, thus, illegal. Enforcement of compliance with such laws generally carry hefty sanctions

Is this not also the case in America, today, or, like the Laws of Physics, have the laws that deal with false, misleading and deceptive behaviours and unconscionable conduct that are intended to protect the American people from the consequences of those whose actions give rise to such illegal activities also been repealed when it comes to the JSF Program?

Once the production starts, the jobs, err votes, are already in place and politicians can keep the program going.
Testing is for later, after it’s all been bought and paid for, right?

Compare that with the extraordinary F-16 / LWF program Pierre Sprey took such a leading part in:
— requirements issued in 1972
— competition ended 1975
— production deliveries to the air force in 1978 (after flight tests showed need to increase tail by 25%)

Calling the PET or any other cost estimator to testify won’t reveal true costs, because they have to tow the party line or be fired. Remember Franklin Spinney?