The F-35 is expected to officially replace the F-15, F-16, F-18, and Harrier jump jet but it has emerged to be an incredibly expensive, badly underperforming aircraft with massive cost overruns, critical design failures, and reduced operational capacity. The latest headache for the aircraft – the $130 million F-35 is outclassed by 40 year-old F-16, in a dogfight.
The report, courtesy of War is Boring, describes a January 15 encounter between a single-seat F-35A in an older configuration and an F-16D Block 40. The test in question was designed to measure the F-35’s ability to dogfight at high angles of attack and with aggressive maneuvering. The F-35 was flying clean, with no weapons in its bomb bays or mounted on the fuselage, while the F-16 was carrying a pair of external fuel tanks which impacts drag and limits the airplane’s overall maneuverability. Despite these limitations, the report notes that the F-35 lost badly to the F-16. The report states that ““Even with the limited F-16 target configuration, the F-35A remained at a distinct energy disadvantage for every engagement.” The report also states that F35 cannot avoid incoming fire from the more agile F-16. The F-35 can’t punish a target for achieving a lock and it can’t prevent the lock from taking place. In attempting to view enemy bogey, the poor helmet design causes the pilot to lose track of the rest of the in-helmet display.
Many of the problems that have bedeviled the plane can be laid at the feet of concurrency. Concurrency is an utterly insane US military philosophy that mandates the simultaneous development and deployment of military technologies. Think about how much you hate the idea of being a forced beta tester for an operating system, game, or other software product. Now imagine you were required to do the same thing, except while flying at Mach 1.6.
The US Government Disagrees
The government and Lockheed-Martin have responded with what they claim is a refutation of the issues raised by the F-16 / F-35 report. It notes that the F-35 in question lacked the long-range detection systems mounted on later versions of the aircraft, the stealth coating that makes the plane hard to track on radar, and the weapons and software packages that allow the pilot to lock on target without needing to point the nose of the aircraft at its target. Left unsaid is the fact that the F-16 also lacks all of these systems, yet handily won the dogfight. To this, the government says: “The F-35’s technology is designed to engage, shoot, and kill its enemy from long distances, not necessarily in visual “dogfighting” situations.”
Despite design flaws, cost overruns, and concerns about every aspect of the jet’s performance, the F-35 continues to be presented as the future of American air superiority. Hopefully it won’t be called upon for a test in the near future. Drones seemed to be looking better all the time…….
See full story on extremetech.com
Image courtesy of extremetech.com