test pilot: "F-35 can't dogfight"

for all those who told me the F-35 would be on par with the F-16 in a dogfight
turns out it can’t even win from an F-16D with drop tanks
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/test-pilot-admits-the-f-35-can-t-dogfight-cdb9d11a875
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-f-35-cant-beat-the-plane-its-replacing-in-a-dogfigh-1714712248

respect to the pilot, his career is over
it raises the question why the hell we only hear about this now. it means all those test pilots who swore it moved great before were lying

I’ve long predicted the F-35 wouldn’t have the energy for a dogfight, it’s a big and heavy aircraft with just one engine
in a way this doesn’t matter, as the F-35 is designed for long range, stealth combat
and even in a dogfight it’ll use its 360 degree angle of fire to attack and just run off
but if for some reason that tactic fails… it reminds of the F-4 being introduced without a gun “because it’s not needed anymore”

also, on the defensive this inability to move sharp is going to make it very hard to dodge missiles