I don’t doubt that F-35 has some good stats, I am looking at this from a more general perspective, what I have seen is that because F-35 costs substantially more than other fighters this limits countries that does not have a US level defense budget on how many planes they can afford, for example instead of 50 F-16 they end up with 10-20 F-35.
And by looking at those numbers it seems like they get less defense for the same amount even if F-35 is better than the alternatives.
Yeah, if a country doesn’t need stealth, they really shouldn’t be purchasing stealth. Most countries will probably want a mix of both. Stealth for air dominance and heavily-contested, high-value strikes, and fourth generation air frames to provide bulk ordnance delivery.
With the exception of VTOL, in which the F-35B is the only reasonable option, even if you don’t need stealth.
Honestly, if you already have air superiority and you just need a bomb truck, you can’t go better than strapping a ton of hard points onto a crop duster and raining hell
I hear you have also heard of the US’ newest aircraft, the armed crop duster! (Not a joke, this is a real thing, and it works for exactly the reasons you said)
I don’t doubt that F-35 has some good stats, I am looking at this from a more general perspective, what I have seen is that because F-35 costs substantially more than other fighters this limits countries that does not have a US level defense budget on how many planes they can afford, for example instead of 50 F-16 they end up with 10-20 F-35.
And by looking at those numbers it seems like they get less defense for the same amount even if F-35 is better than the alternatives.
Yeah, if a country doesn’t need stealth, they really shouldn’t be purchasing stealth. Most countries will probably want a mix of both. Stealth for air dominance and heavily-contested, high-value strikes, and fourth generation air frames to provide bulk ordnance delivery.
With the exception of VTOL, in which the F-35B is the only reasonable option, even if you don’t need stealth.
Honestly, if you already have air superiority and you just need a bomb truck, you can’t go better than strapping a ton of hard points onto a crop duster and raining hell
I hear you have also heard of the US’ newest aircraft, the armed crop duster! (Not a joke, this is a real thing, and it works for exactly the reasons you said)
https://www.twz.com/modified-crop-duster-chosen-for-special-ops-armed-overwatch-mission