Lockheed, Pentagon reach $4 billion deal for more F-35 jets

[SvenSvensonov]

And the 5th Generation of Air superioty fighter will be ?

The F-22 and armed combat drones.

 

[madmusti]

The F-22 and armed combat drones.

That F-22 will be enough ? against example Russian Variants upcoming or Chinese.

Will USa going to the 6th generation or is the capability of F35 Air performance in a Dog Fight enough ?

 

[SvenSvensonov]

That F-22 will be enough ? against example Russian Variants upcoming.

Sure, but the two aren't likely to meet one another. Russia has limited abilities to punch outsides its immediate area, while the US sees no real reason to fight against Russia. The only point of concern is the limited number of F-22s, but they will be augmented by UCAVs, that and Russian can't afford large numbers of the PAK-FA either and even less now that its economy is flagging. Also it's important to remember that air-to-air fighting isn't the only option against aircraft. Targeting their airfields renders them functionally defeated, even if you don't destroy the aircraft itself, this can be done from a distance using cruise missiles and PGMs. Surface-to-Air missiles also provide an effective means of eliminating enemy aircraft and ours and the Russians models are very, very effective and will result in casualties.

 

[C130]

That F-22 will be enough ? against example Russian Variants upcoming or Chinese.

Will USa going to the 6th generation or is the capability of F35 Air performance in a Dog Fight enough ?

X-47B grandson will be our 6th generation dog fighter

 

[madmusti]

Will the Navy&Marines keep the X-47B instead of F35B/C ? Or holding the F18´s ?

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Will the Navy&Marines keep the X-47B instead of F35B/C ? Or holding the F18´s ?

The X-47B isn't going to be a production airframe, its a technology demonstrator and testing aircraft that will lead to the operational UCLASS for the Navy. The F-35s will augment the UCLASS and the F-18 will be retained in the "Growler" variant (also known as "Grizzly" to avoid confusion with the previously in service electronic warfare variant of the A-6 known as the "Prowler").

 

[C130]

Will the Navy&Marines keep the X-47B instead of F35B/C ? Or holding the F18´s ?

X-47B isn't designed for Air to Air and I don't expect it to see combat anytime soon. They'll probably move onto the bigger version X-47C for surveillance and bombing.

F-35B/C is going to be the Marines/Navy main fighter for the next 30 years.

 

[banvanaxl]

.....and India is close to buying some 126 Rafales for some $18-20 billion.......

Ripped off. To the nth power.

Not really mate... You are discounting the TOT.

(Assuming that folks at SECDEF are temporarily brain freezed) take a guess a what kind of dough we'd have to shell out for TOT for the F35..

 

[banvanaxl]

Yes, the Buk anti-aircraft missile works fine.

Bugger doesn't appreciate/comprehend humour mate.. That didn't work

 

[gambit]

So basically, it is used to determine the calibration of the sensors that would be used during normal flying?

Basically...Yes.

 

[Gandhiv]

just food for thought
India could buy 150 F-35s for 15 billion makes you wonder if sticking with the Russians for Pak-FA is still worth the investment.

USA was not even ready for sharing ToT for its legacy F-16 fighter with India during MRCA competition<which they lost because of failing some tests in competition> forget sharing anything for F-35, for recent Javelin deal they lost to Spike also the same issue.
USA will never trust any non euro nation I guess for sharing their tech., well I am not even sure about europe also

 

[C130]

USA was not even ready for sharing ToT for its legacy F-16 fighter with India during MRCA competition<which they lost because of failing some tests in competition> forget sharing anything for F-35, for recent Javelin deal they lost to Spike also the same issue.
USA will never trust any non euro nation I guess for sharing their tech., well I am not even sure about europe also

of course no ToT is Russia going to share ToT of Pak-FA? last time I heard they aren't even letting Indians inspect or hardly participate in the Pak-FA development.

anyways this like 0% chance of happening was just putting it out there.

Spike over Javelin was a wise choice.

 

[gambit]

Sure, but the two aren't likely to meet one another. Russia has limited abilities to punch outsides its immediate area, while the US sees no real reason to fight against Russia. The only point of concern is the limited number of F-22s, but they will be augmented by UCAVs, that and Russian can't afford large numbers of the PAK-FA either and even less now that its economy is flagging. Also it's important to remember that air-to-air fighting isn't the only option against aircraft. Targeting their airfields renders them functionally defeated, even if you don't destroy the aircraft itself, this can be done from a distance using cruise missiles and PGMs. Surface-to-Air missiles also provide an effective means of eliminating enemy aircraft and ours and the Russians models are very, very effective and will result in casualties.

Yes...Like this...

Not many people outside of the US military have any real appreciation for how much study and efforts the USAF put into runway denial operations. Runways are boring, not very 'sexy'. Jet fighters are 'sexy', but only if they can fly.

 

[Gandhiv]

of course no ToT is Russia going to share ToT of Pak-FA? last time I heard they aren't even letting Indians inspect or hardly participate in the Pak-FA development.

anyways this like 0% chance of happening anyways was just putting it out there.

Spike over Javelin was a wise choice.

Russians are still better than USA when it comes to sharing tech., do you think USA ever leasing any nuclear submarines to India, hell they are building one more Akula-2 for India only.
Russians yes don't share critical ToT to keep India dependent, but USA will not even share legacy tech. with us which they might have retired from services lot time ago. Anyway they are much better that Russia when it comes to deliveries though.

 

[C130]

Russians are still better than USA when it comes to sharing tech., do you think USA ever leasing any nuclear submarines to India, hell they are building one more Akula-2 for India only.
Russians yes don't share critical ToT to keep India dependent, but USA will not even share legacy tech. with us which they might have retired from services lot time ago. Anyway they are much better that Russia when it comes to deliveries though.

of course Russia wouldn't have a problem with sharing their tech because it's inferior to Western tech.
giving up all the goodies inside the F-35 and Javelin would be a bad business deal especially considering how much $$ went into R&D