[Forward the Light Brigade]

If you dump the F-35 what would we replace it with? F-22 is good but it can’t do a lot—Do we have better planes on the drawing boards? Can the F-35 be saved? What can we do? Buy Mig -35? Revamp the F-16? The F-18? How about we steal the plans for the Mig-35 and improve it?

[tanknetter]

If you dump the F-35 what would we replace it with? F-22 is good but it can’t do a lot—Do we have better planes on the drawing boards? Can the F-35 be saved? What can we do? Buy Mig -35? Revamp the F-16? The F-18? How about we steal the plans for the Mig-35 and improve it?

The real problem with the F-35 is that its billed and has been sold as a "fighter" rather than what it really is, a stealth light attack platform.

It shows the lasting legacy and power of the Fighter Mafia that pushed through the High/Low F-15/F-16 mix in the 1970s. Which at this point probably isn't a good thing - people are looking at the F-22/F-35 pairing as just the next generation of High/Low fighters, without factoring in how the world, and technology, has changed in the last 40 years or so.

The fact is that getting the F-35 into the fleet and aboard carriers (both CVNs and LHD/LHAs) is going to be transformative, and will be a massive leap above the aircraft they are replacing (Legacy Hornet and AV-8B Harrier, both with a light strike emphasis).

The Air Force version is more debatable given the presence of the F-22. But focusing so much on just the Air Force requirements shows, again, the power the Fighter Mafia and its mentality still has over not just USAF but DoD as a whole.

[Cvengr]

For the cost of one aircraft, you could build a million ordnance carrying drones and dispatch them to 10000 infantry, 10 per vehicle, and 1000 per rear command with extended flight range.