A widespread concern is what would happen to Dutch weapon systems if the Americans were to withdraw completely as an ally. For example, Dutch F-35 aircraft are dependent on American software updates. Yet, Tuinman isn’t particularly worried about this.
“The F-35 is truly a shared product. The British make the Rolls-Royce engines, and the Americans simply need them too.” And even if this mutual dependency doesn’t result in software updates, the F-35, in its current state, is still a better aircraft than other types of fighters.
If you still want to upgrade despite everything, I’m going to say something I should never say, but I will anyway: you can jailbreak an F-35 just like an iPhone. (Crack it with your own software, ed.)
I mean they can be riddled with bugs and the best aircraft available. Chinas always going to lean in on raw numbers. Their aircraft are not superior, nor are their pilots who are always causing international incidents. The problem is the insane amount of resources that went into it and the fact that it really doesn’t have an adversary. There’s no telling if it will remain relevant for long enough to pay back the investment. For me it’s more of a “we needed a super jet like we needed a war in Iraq” vibe. No question its better than the Chinese equivalent (which there is none) Question is why the fuck did we build it?
I’m late to this reply, but Chinese pilots and aircraft have actually become quite competent this decade. Their behavior with international intercepts doesn’t mean anything, especially when its usually done by some ye olde J-11s. And amazingly they kickstarted the LRAAM arms race again with their highly successful PL-15.
The F-35 does get to face off against China’s J-20 and J-35, but to answer your question, the thing was built as an export product to make a ton of money for Lockheed.
While there is obvious technological advancement from the F-22, it has a top speed akin to a dated block I JF-17, reliability as good as a land rover, and parts/munitions expensive as golden caviar.
It’s just an export all in one stealth solution because there is no alternative that was developed.
Which is why I want to see it pitted against any nation that has properly delved into counter stealth operations. I feel like if you can successfully light it up, it would struggle in a BVR fight, unlike the F-22 which has plenty of power to mess around.
There’s no direct Chinese equivalent because both the J-20 and J-35 are more akin to the F-22 (although J-35 is a bit closer), but I would not be surprised to find the F-35 not being able to keep up with such adversaries.
And I’m fairly certain USAF is completely aware of this in their redteam exercises, which is why they continue to field the F-22 as their primary stealth air superiority fighter, if not outright their primary air superiority fighter.
Even more annoyingly for the USAF, I don’t think the upcoming F-47 is going to come before China decides to jump on Taiwan, so they’ll more than likely be fighting with whatever they have today.
Thank you for the thought provoking comment!
The goal of the F-35 is to keep the lead in aircraft technology development. China can clone all the designs they want and build as many planes as they want but will need more then waves of planes to project power on the level of the United States.
The goal for the F-35 was to create jobs and taxable revenue. Projecting power indeed. Manipulating other countries to “keep up with mil tech” even tho we all know our adversaries are 20 years behind. Maybe investing in schools or diplomacy could have created greater returns for the American public