F-35 Fighter Jet Conservative numbers are accurate

[Frank@75]

There is still a lot of testing before the true capabilities of the F-35 are fully known. At best all we have is internet speculation and biased reporting. Certainly the F-35 software
will be years ahead of any other aircraft and will form the basis of its stealth. (As far as the physical stealth I will feel better when the F-22 has solved their maintenance problems with the paint and canopy).

[Frank@75]

As the F-35 carries a limited four bay internal load, how much will it have to carry on the wings to equal an F-18? What will be the signature then?

If you think that it can out-fight a Gen 4 F-15 at close range you are mistaken. The thrust ratio of the F-15 is clearly superior. 9 g's without thrust will cause major airspeed bleed.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

China, Russia, and India are all coming out with 5th generation fighters but it remains to be seen how good they actually are. China and Russia already have flying prototypes. The key is their LO technology and avionics will probably be behind even the F-35.

The interesting part is that the reason Russia and China are getting into the game because they want to get into the market for selling jets to non-western and developing countries that want to get on the stealth bandwagon. Chinese 5th gen fighters for example, could be 50% to 80% cheaper than American fighters. Then again, if they suck, even if you have two for every F-22, it might take 10 of them to be a match for it.

The USAF has conducted wargames between squadrons of F-22s against F-15s and F-16s and the F-22 kill ratio was 30:1.

So that one pilot who got the kill is now being trained by viper and jester and being given his own f-22, right?

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

So that one pilot who got the kill is now being trained by viper and jester and being given his own f-22, right?

No cause every time he goes up he is unsafe.

Probably cause he is hanging on to tight

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

F-35 is actually capable of tracking and jamming the F-22's radar.

Interesting but why would an F-22 have its radar on and be detectable by all to see?

[Cheese]

what nation has the next best or comparable airforce to the USA? Are there any warplanes that can match the US force?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Cheese

what nation has the next best or comparable airforce to the USA? Are there any warplanes that can match the US force?

The F-22 is the best fighter out there right now. The USA is the only that has them, and they have placed an export ban on selling them to all other countries. The USA has stopped ordering F-22's so shoudl end up with 150+ by the time these orders are filled.

The USA also has over 1200 F-16s and around 350 f-15s. The F-22 is meant to supplement the F-15 as the air superiority fighter.

The Russians,who are the next best, have about 1200 fighters total, but those vary a lot in quality. The Russians are in the process of modernizing their military equipment. Currently some of their fighters can go toe to toe with everythign except the F-22. It looks unlikely that Russia's next generation of fighters will be able to match the F-22, but who knows.

Right now, the USAF is clearly the strongest one by far. They could also easily ramp up production of fighters if they needed to.

[Bigtime]

I believe the USAF also keeps a lot of aircraft in a near ready state in those aircraft graveyards in the desert.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I believe the USAF also keeps a lot of aircraft in a near ready state in those aircraft graveyards in the desert.

I suspect the USAF would have more problems with reactivating pilots rather than aircraft if it came down to it.

Which is a heck of a lot better than the Russians... all their spare planes rust or get sold to China/3rd world dictators.

[Frank@75]

As I see it the US has three major problems. The average age of their fighter fleet is over 23.5 years – vs. an average of 8.5 years in 1967. Both the F-22 and F-15’s have been grounded at times for maintenance and fatique issues. Decommissioned aircraft are normally maintained for spare parts only. Once the US has finished building their 187th F-22 they must decide how to preserve the tooling. The skilled labour will be transferred to the F-35 program. The second problem is that China and India are on the verge (10-15 years) of building leading edge fighters and will be offering them on the world market. This was previously dominated by F-16 export sales.
The third problem is the American deficit…phone up Obama and see how the F-22 and space shuttle are doing.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Frank@50

As I see it the US has three major problems. The average age of their fighter fleet is over 23.5 years – vs. an average of 8.5 years in 1967. Both the F-22 and F-15’s have been grounded at times for maintenance and fatique issues. Decommissioned aircraft are normally maintained for spare parts only. Once the US has finished building their 187th F-22 they must decide how to preserve the tooling. The skilled labour will be transferred to the F-35 program. The second problem is that China and India are on the verge (10-15 years) of building leading edge fighters and will be offering them on the world market. This was previously dominated by F-16 export sales.
The third problem is the American deficit…phone up Obama and see how the F-22 and space shuttle are doing.

Problem 1 is shared by everyone. If you want to see old and out of date, look at what the Russian air force is using.

Noone really knows what any of Russia, the USA, China, or India have in store for the future. However, most reports seem to show that Russia is the only one that can come anywhere close to challenging the F-22.

The third problem is a problem...You'd be surprised how many problems you can "fix" with the best air force in the world though.

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by blankall

Problem 1 is shared by everyone. If you want to see old and out of date, look at what the Russian air force is using.

Noone really knows what any of Russia, the USA, China, or India have in store for the future. However, most reports seem to show that Russia is the only one that can come anywhere close to challenging the F-22.

The third problem is a problem...You'd be surprised how many problems you can "fix" with the best air force in the world though.

Haven't noticed the fixes in Libya, or Afghanistan...

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Byrns

Haven't noticed the fixes in Libya, or Afghanistan...

America isn't really invovled in Libya all that much. Afghanistan was invaded for security not financial reasons.

Either way the US's total debt when compared to GDP is still miniscule compared to other nations. If the US had to leverage 10s or hundreds of billions to beef up their army in the event of an actual threat, it could be done pretty easily.

[photon]

And then use the airforce to destroy the creditors! Mwahahaha!

[Julio]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/05...raps-the-f-35/