re: #380 ProGunLiberal

The F-35 is know having cost overruns at least as bad as the F-22. Not only that, but the Stealth it does have comes at the price of being generally less useful than its competitors overseas, two of which would make better alternatives (JAS-39 for Ground Based, Rafale for Naval Based).

When one tries to build a fighter that can do anything, we end up with a useless plane that can do none of the jobs well. Cancel, and negotiate with France and Sweden for buying the rights to build those two here.

Anyone else have some points of the F-22 and F-35?

I’ll jump in. A friend is working on the survivability of the F-35 in combat. He tells me that the F-35 has fuel lines located inside the wings that can only be serviced for leaks by taking off the skin of the wings. A small leak will take many hours to be repaired. And you can’t fly a plane which has a fuel leak!

Also, the F-35 engine by itself is too large to fit inside a Carrier Delivery (COD) plane to transport to an aircraft carrier. Plus, aircraft carriers, as large as they are, do not have room to store a couple of dozen spare engines.