http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2016/september/Pages/AirForceF35ProponentsStrikeBackatCritics.aspx

So, A pilot with 3000 hrs in a modern combat jet interviews 31 other pilots (note no names so there is no need hold back) who have experience in 4th gen fighters & the F-35 at Block 3i and they all want the F-35, a majority of them even in a knife-fight.

???

OF COURSE the pilots would prefer the F-35 above and beyond the teens — they are not stupid.

I would also prefer a brand new BMW to my current Toyota. However my wife tells me that buying a BMW would be “a waste of money” and therefore I am stuck with the Toyota.

Perhaps I should make a survey, I can ask 31 drivers to test drive both my Toyota and the BMW of choice and ask them which they would prefer… unfortunately I don’t think my wife would be impressed, she would still insist that the BMW would be a “waste of money”.

Oh well.

Of course this is just an analogy and being clever guys we all know that analogies have their shortcomings. I will leave it as an exercise to the readers to identify and address them.

When the siren sounded, the RAF pilots dashed for the cockpits of their Typhoons. Within minutes, two jet fighters were streaking across a summer sky, their wings laden with air-to-air missiles, searching for unidentified intruders they know as “bandits”.

Over the next half hour, Wing Commander Roger Elliott and his wingman would make three separate interceptions of Russian military aircraft.

OK write-up (although the journo definitely tries hard to make it sound much more dramatic than it is in reality of course)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/27/raf-typhoons-hunt-for-russian-bandits-as-nato-protects-baltic-sk/

Interview with Swedish test pilot on the Gripen E:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neNMspgGDNU&feature=youtu.be

nice picture — is it from Norway?

There is actually a place in Norway called Hell…

Yeager is 93. Great test pilot and man of strong ( not always correct) opinions. Btw, all he said on Twitter was “waste of money” the rest you ad libbed.

Well, he may be onto something…

How many missions have the F-22 done so far? How does that compare to the costs? Could a somewhat cheaper a/c have succeeded in completing said missions?

The F-22 was overkill at the time of launch; it seems F-35 may also be overkill, at least in some aspects. Nothing wrong with overkill of course, apart from the higher costs of developing something that is overkill, or if you want to put it bluntly “waste of money”.

If you look at some of the statements made by officials in recent times, they have been along the lines of:

– no more “joint” projects
– no more enormous, 15-20 year development projects that may or may not deliver what is needed 30 years down the line (requirements may change)

So in the future I guess the name of the game will be more iterative, quicker developments with shorter timelines.

Canada could withdraw from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program on short notice by paying a little more than $300 million U.S., according to an analysis prepared by the defence department soon after the Liberals won the federal election.

full story: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/f-35-exit-strategy-canada-could-pay-about-313m-to-pull-out-of-jet-program-defence-documents-show

Somewhat misleading(?) however it does not really matter: the probability of Canada not buying the F-35 is dropping rapidly, for every month that passes by and the F-35A moves closer towards IOC.

If you modified the F-35A to land on a carrier, it would end up looking like an F-35C. Really wouldn’t make sense.

I thought the C basically is an A modified to land on a carrier!?

They have also tested the same week COD with the Osprey. It makes for a pretty coherent increase in capacity in contrary to what critics generally say.

COD? call of duty? or do you refer to the fish?