The old question of the fighterbomber ever since the Germans started hanging bombs under their FW190: Survivability of a laden fighterbomber against a dedicated fighter. Will the F-35 be able to go into the infight with a Flanker or a late model J-7 without dropping the a/g ammo?

It’s claimed that an F-35 with full internal load will outfly clean F-16s/F-18s. I doubt it’d drop ordinance to go to the merge. I suspect it’d opt to remain outside the detection ranges of those fighters.

And if it can’t get a successful BVR-ish shot with the AMRAAM and it goes WVR – what does it have? Another AMRAAM for the infight? Or the gun? Or a pair of AIM-9/-132 under the wings which will compromise LO? I say the F-35 better be real fast down low dry!

Unless the foe gets within 2000m, then the AMRAAM will work just fine.

With F-15s Literally falling from the sky, F-35 delays, Raptors being to exspensive and F-16s getting old. What will defend U.S. air space? Do we need exspensive stealth fighters to escort the occasionnal 747 or bear? Discuss.

When’s the last time an F-15 fell out of the sky? After the one broke apart, and the fleet was grounded, they pulled the iffy ones from service. Now this doesn’t answer the question you posed about which aircraft should perform this role, but a SLEP’d F-16 would probably be the cheapest way to go. If new build aircraft are considered, I would imagine that F-35s will be used, as the ANG isn’t going to buy Navy aircraft(i.e. Super Hornets).

That’s another way of saying F-22 is exempted from the theory, i take it ?
& no doubt F-35 is the final exemption.:o

Nope. AESA systems facilitate LPI functionalities, but being AESA doesn’t immediately make something LPI. It remains to be seen what capabilities competitive arrays have in that area.

Pretty much. It certainly won’t be helpful to anyone hoping to remain unobserved.

And this is precisely what those of us who aren’t anti-F-35 have been saying for years.

Well Google images doesn’t have Su-34s listed by what year they were built. If you can find a pic that you think more accurately represents current build quality, I’ll be happy to take a look.

Well, that would more than likely be because the T-50 is not a production model at this point and lacks the extensive RAM coatings and seals seen on production F-22s. Even so, it is already a major improvement over any previous Russian fighter (even production airframes) and on par with Western aircraft such as the Typhoon, Rafale and X-35. What more could you expect at this junction?

BTW, panel alignment is something quite different altogether, unrelated to manufacturing quality.

Which is why I’m using the YF-23 for comparison for one, showing that even a 20yr old prototype has better tolerances in the finish department. As for panel alignment, that’s another huge factor in minimizing returns. Are all of the panels going to be changed on the production models?