If I was to create an account on F-16.net mentioning this I would get my head ripped off along with my questions, answers and account deleted the next day.
There are plenty of people on F-16.net that ask questions and we don’t have a problem with them.
However, if you are straight up trollish, rude, etc then that can cause some issues.
To answer you questions directly, it’s all about context. Exact RCS values are classified and as they say, “Those who are talking, don’t know and those who know, aren’t talking”. The conflicting comments from different offices about each aircraft’s RCS as it relates to each other are likely cherry-picked numbers to support each side in the context of the interview. The “eight F-35s to do what two F-22s can handle” can be easily explained in the context of “Area that the F-22 can engage a threat within x number of minutes”. You can easily flip the equation by stating an A2G mission where in many cases no amount of F-22s can do the job (ie requiring a bunker buster, plinking moving targets, ID a target, etc).
General hostage said this:
“The F-35 is geared to go out and take down the surface targets,” says Hostage, leaning forward. “The F-35 doesn’t have the altitude, doesn’t have the speed [of the F-22], but it can beat the F-22 in stealth.” But stealth — the ability to elude or greatly complicate an enemy’s ability to find and destroy an aircraft using a combination of design, tactics and technology — is not a magic pill, Hostage reminds us.
In that context (note that ‘tactics’ is specifically cited) I would say that “stealth” is not the same thing as “RCS” (as Gen. Hostage points out). The F-35 has a much more robust ESM (to include jamming and towed decoys), better sensors, better ability to operate at night, better comms, better mission data files, etc over the F-22 and can use those advantages in certain missions.
Remember… Context is King
btw, I see no problem with your questions as is.
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