this plane might very well be the last mass produced manned fighter ever. drones will be taking care of most things here on out.
Everything I have read points to the fact that the F-35 is a piece of dogshit and a huge mistake. America is vulnerable because of it. Every country that buys it is vulnerable. Chinese and Russian aircraft have surpassed this mistake. Here are just a few links that were easy to pull up. worst new plane "dead meat" "can't dogfight" "substantially inferior" China built copies better than our originals Why do we even bother spending so much money on tech only to let China steal it? Allowing outsourcing of sensitive technology to China was a bad idea. We purposely allowed them access to our manufacturing methods, etc. We don't seem to be very anxious to stop their espionage.
To bad that's not true, it was already confirmed that the 6th gen will be a manned fighter. The only thing that wont be manned at first are the new space base aircraft that the airforce seems to be investing in(the scream jet aircraft and XS-1).
OK, lets slow down a bit. Yes the F35 is not what it should be (and most likely a mistake from day 1). But it is still superior to Russia/Iran/China's offerings. People keep pointing out it "cant dogfight". No kidding. That was never part of the plan. This isnt 1986 anymore and Tom Cruise isnt piloting one.
older model hornets, and F-15E(well they studied a possible F-35E lol iy might have been mothballed)....and harrier....and the A-10...did i mention the F-16? lol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
still has to be paid for and the f22 and f35 have been developmental nightmares. very hard to see a 6th gen fighter making it to mass production, certainly not in 15 or so years.
6th generation fighter program is underway, but its gonna be 2 platforms. one for the navy and 1 for the air-force. i think they started making the new engines last year..maybe even before that. http://news.usni.org/2014/06/23/next-generation-engine-work-points-future-u-s-fighter-designs ^ engines http://www.defensenews.com/story/de...ixth-generation-fighter-2016-budget/22477329/ ^ budget for 6th Gen R&D http://www.defensenews.com/story/de...2015/01/21/northrop-6th-gen-fighter/22089857/ northrop has already started
I know you are the number one jersey chaser on SD and think you're some expert, but we are talking about the Corps so you might want to get on wiki and see what role a jump jet would fill for the Corps
Has the a-10 reached it's max upgrade capabilities yet? I know it's not a good comparison but the B52 is still getting upgrades and they're 60 years old.
I know which one it is, and i know it's replacing the AV8B. But the marines are also buying C model as well. I'm listing all the aircraft this thing is trying to fill the shoes of. this is why its having a fuck tone of problems. Also, stop trying to be a hard ass.
The A-10 was suppose to stay in service until 2028. The best way to replace the A-10 is to start another A-X program, an Expensive F-35 should never fill the roll of a pure CAS aircraft.
The whole project is about the corrupt government funnelling tax payer money into notorious war profiteers Lockheed Martin. Nothing else.
