F-35

[denel]

I don’t think these headlines reflect the Air Force’s thinking - it is more about the economy of deploying a 5th generation fighter against ragtag rebels or the sortie generation cost of using a 5th gen aircraft.

The F-35 is great at what it’s designed to do - but the fight for a 1000 F-35’s just is not there. Russia isn’t building the su-57 in numbers and China’s 5th gen fleet can be tackled by F-22’s and F-35s in current numbers - while the remaining 4.5 gen fleet can mop up whats left.

correct - it is just an interesting thought - not to be taken into too much detail or seriously.

 

[Dac O Dac]

Some fresh news of the flying brick :
Block 4 Software Issues Could Cause F-35 Capability Delays, Costly Retrofits

Following the latest review by the Government Accountability Office, DoD is expected to again push back the schedule for the sprawling F-35 modernization effort.
The new report is yet another slap for the Joint Strike Fighter, which is already in DoD’s budget-cutting cross-hairs due to the plane’s exorbitant maintenance costs.
...
GAO said that costs of the effort had ballooned by $1.9 billion between 2019 and 2020, bringing the overall cost to about $14.4 billion.
...
(The current 2027 deadline for Block 4 completion already represents a three-year delay from the 2024 deadline DoD set in its 2018 baseline for the effort.)



Block 4 Software Issues Could Cause F-35 Capability Delays, Costly Retrofits
"The biggest potential challenge is that these modernization elements don't reach the warfighter as quickly as they'd hoped," one expert said.