F35

People are always afraid and resistant to new things. People always like to believe that they “know better” and that their old things are better than their new ones…

 

USAF has started using its new multi-role aircraft F35. The new fifth-generation aircraft of Lockheed Martin has many high-tech features that make it much more advanced than other aircrafts. However many people (F-16 and F-15 people?) critisize the new aircraft as too heavy, as not too maneuverable, as not too fast…

 

Is it really a problem that F-35 cannot turn as tight as F-22? Is it really a problem that it cannot achieve supersonic flight without afterburner? Is it really a problem it is not as light as F-16?
Well, seeing things out of perspective is always bad. If it did not have EO DAS (Distributive Aperture System), HOBS (High-Off-Bore-Sight) missiles or the full 360 degree warning system, advanced radar and advanced computer, those MIGHT be problems, yes…

 

In any case when was the last time a fighter’s success was defined by how much it can fly at Mach 2 while turning? When was the last time an airfight was determined by the “mine is bigger than yours” logic? How many times Mirage 2000s have defeated F-16s in the skies of the Aegean? What does this mean? How many times did Eurofighters beat F-22s in Red Flag? [Air International, September 2012] What does this mean again? That the all too slow all too not-stealth all too not ready Eurofighter is better than the all-too-superfast and super-agile F-22? No…
No ?!?

 

Airfights are not won like playing cards…
Airfights are not won by comparing characteristics and finding out which one is bigger…
Let us not be lost into the “bigger the better” logic of modern time. Let us not be so narrow minded.
No.
You will not win an airfight because your AoA is 10.2 and mine 9.7 …

 

And let us not forget that airfights are won by well trained fighter pilots and well prepared airplanes, along with some of the most recent developments in technology. F-35 has the latter, but not (yet) the former…
Modern aircrafts rely on electronics. This is the future.

 

And in any case aircrafts are part of an Airforce which must know how to use it. Yes, thinking more holistically is good not only in philosophy but in aircraft operations as well. This applies to all aircraft. Why not for F-35 as well?

Just wait and see…
Pilots which fly it already love it.
Someday F-35 will be old enough to win the hearts of people as well…
PS. And guess what: I too think that the “old” Star Wars is better than the new ones. But my son will think otherwise. Am I getting older? Am I becoming a F-16 lover? Can I accept a new F-35 in the skies?