Most expensive weapon in history

A mock air battle between an F-16 jet and the military’s new and oft-troubled F-35 stealth jet showed that the F-35 is too sluggish to hit an enemy plane or dodge gunfire, according to a report.

 

The F-35 has cost the US military more than a trillion dollars since work on it began, making it the most expensive weapon in history.

 

The mock air battle, staged in January over the Pacific Ocean, was to test the F-35’s prowess as a close-range dogfighter at 10,000 to 30,000 feet. The F-35 pilot was to fly his jet hard, turning and maneuvering to “shoot down” the older F-16 jet, whose pilot would be doing his best to evade being hit, and trying to attack the F-35.

 

The test pilot’s five-page brief said that despite the F-16 being weighed down by two drop tanks, and with the F-35 jet carrying no weapons, the F-35 “remained at a distinct energy disadvantage for every engagement.”

 

The F-35 was designed to far exceed the fourth generation F-16 jets, first built in the 1970s, with the ability to carry its fuel and weapons internally. Yet aerodynamic problems, such as “insufficient pitch rate” for the jet’s nose while climbing, were reported during the mock battle.

 

The F-35 test pilot also discovered he couldn’t comfortably move his head inside the jet’s cramped cockpit.

 

“The helmet was too large for the space inside the canopy to adequately see behind the aircraft,” said the report.

 

That allowed the F-16 to sneak up on him.

 

The F-35 pilot tried to target the F-16 with the stealth jet’s 25-millimeter cannon, which the smaller F-16 easily dodged. The pilot said the F-35 performed so dismally that it had no place fighting other aircraft within visual range.

 

In one maneuver, the F-35 was able to perform decently at rudder reversal at slow speeds, but this used a lot of the aircraft’s energy, leaving the aircraft vulnerable to attack.

 

The brief release to the War is Boring website was unclassified but still marked “for official use only.” It documented a mock battle taking place on January 14, 2015 over a sea test range in the Pacific Ocean near Edwards Air Force Base, California.

 

Read more here

http://rt.com/usa/270583-f-35-cant-win-dogfight/

 

 

 

They need to stop trying to make a "one plane to rule them all" because if you water it down, you won't be good at one thing, and sucky at a bunch.

 

Start making F-14's, 15's, 16's, 18's, B-1B's and SR-71's again. Time to take back the throne.

:drool:

 

MOAR!

 

So pretty

 

Why not use drones to dogfight?

Why not use drones to dogfight?

 

That's the plot of Top Gun 2!

They need to stop trying to make a "one plane to rule them all" because if you water it down, you won't be good at one thing, and sucky at a bunch.

 

Start making F-14's, 15's, 16's, 18's, B-1B's and SR-71's again. Time to take back the throne.

This one is pretty sweet too!

 

This one is pretty sweet too!

 

 

I forget about that one. Yeah, it's pretty damn sweet.

https://www.f35.com/news/detail/joint-progr...og?sf10503378=1

I forget about that one. Yeah, it's pretty damn sweet.

 

Didn't they can that in favor of drones?

They need to stop trying to make a "one plane to rule them all" because if you water it down, you won't be good at one thing, and sucky at a bunch.

 

Start making F-14's, 15's, 16's, 18's, B-1B's and SR-71's again. Time to take back the throne.

 

Even better... put that trillion dollars towards something useful. How many air to air engagements has the US been involved in in the last 20 years?

They need to stop trying to make a "one plane to rule them all" because if you water it down, you won't be good at one thing, and sucky at a bunch.

 

Start making F-14's, 15's, 16's, 18's, B-1B's and SR-71's again. Time to take back the throne.

 

:iamwithstupid:

 

I love jets from the era. The F-14 and SR-1 are my two favorite military planes. Fortunately here in So Cal we have a few laying around

I don't why they don't use the B52 approach. Since there is nothing wrong with the airframes, just keep upgrading the avionics. I mean has anybody thought the F16 was obsolete?

I mean has anybody thought the F16 was obsolete?

Probably Lockheed, who's apparently been given $1,000,000,000,000+ of our money to develop it's replacement.

This one is pretty sweet too!

 

And unlike the F35, the F22 is actually very capable.

Developing a fighter into neither a fighter or bomber. Impressive.

 

I also find it interesting, that instead of saving money like cutting it like they did the missile defense system, they will chose to save face.

RT

 

LOLOLOL

 

 

I been watching that network since it came on the air, first it was like a college no-budget TV production, then it was kinda normal for a while, then about 3-4 years ago it turned into a propaganda machine, it's amusing.

The article is horseshit.

The article is horseshit.

 

This. So much this.

 

The F-35 may not live up to the hype that Lockheed wrote/sold us in the brochures, but short of the F-22 this is going to be the next best jet in our inventory.

 

Sure, the F-35 may have it's shortfalls, but there are experts out there (USAF Weapons School & Navy Top Gun) that will learn how to use the jet in a fight and to maximize it's advantages and minimize its weaknesses. Same as we did with the F-4, which turned out to be one of the most mass produced and successful fighter aircraft in history.

 

Some good reading to debunk the OP: http://fightersweep.com/2548/f-35-v-f-16-article-garbage/

 

 

What are people going to say when the first fully operational block F-35 gets a high off bore-shot kill on an F-22? Sure the F-22 is a hell of a lot more maneuverable than the F-35...but it's hard to out maneuver an AIM-9X coupled to an IRST and/or JHMCS (or whatever they are calling the F-35's helmet these days). People seem to forget that the F-22 can't even carry an AIM-9X yet will bash the F-35, which isn't even IOC yet, for not having a working gun or being able to carry an SDBII.

 

/rant.

A guy I graduated with has been flying the F-35... In not so many words he said its a POS that they can't get the bugs worked out on:/

This. So much this.

 

The F-35 may not live up to the hype that Lockheed wrote/sold us in the brochures, but short of the F-22 this is going to be the next best jet in our inventory.

 

Sure, the F-35 may have it's shortfalls, but there are experts out there (USAF Weapons School & Navy Top Gun) that will learn how to use the jet in a fight and to maximize it's advantages and minimize its weaknesses. Same as we did with the F-4, which turned out to be one of the most mass produced and successful fighter aircraft in history.

 

Some good reading to debunk the OP: http://fightersweep.com/2548/f-35-v-f-16-article-garbage/

 

 

What are people going to say when the first fully operational block F-35 gets a high off bore-shot kill on an F-22? Sure the F-22 is a hell of a lot more maneuverable than the F-35...but it's hard to out maneuver an AIM-9X coupled to an IRST and/or JHMCS (or whatever they are calling the F-35's helmet these days). People seem to forget that the F-22 can't even carry an AIM-9X yet will bash the F-35, which isn't even IOC yet, for not having a working gun or being able to carry an SDBII.

 

/rant.

 

 

Acronyms like woah. Lol

RT

 

LOLOLOL

 

 

I been watching that network since it came on the air, first it was like a college no-budget TV production, then it was kinda normal for a while, then about 3-4 years ago it turned into a propaganda machine, it's amusing.

 

 

The article is horseshit.

You guys are just starting to notice the website sources RM gets his news from

This. So much this.

 

The F-35 may not live up to the hype that Lockheed wrote/sold us in the brochures, but short of the F-22 this is going to be the next best jet in our inventory.

 

Sure, the F-35 may have it's shortfalls, but there are experts out there (USAF Weapons School & Navy Top Gun) that will learn how to use the jet in a fight and to maximize it's advantages and minimize its weaknesses. Same as we did with the F-4, which turned out to be one of the most mass produced and successful fighter aircraft in history.

 

Some good reading to debunk the OP: http://fightersweep.com/2548/f-35-v-f-16-article-garbage/

 

 

What are people going to say when the first fully operational block F-35 gets a high off bore-shot kill on an F-22? Sure the F-22 is a hell of a lot more maneuverable than the F-35...but it's hard to out maneuver an AIM-9X coupled to an IRST and/or JHMCS (or whatever they are calling the F-35's helmet these days). People seem to forget that the F-22 can't even carry an AIM-9X yet will bash the F-35, which isn't even IOC yet, for not having a working gun or being able to carry an SDBII.

 

/rant.

 

So much this. It's fun to bash the F-35 but it's a very talented machine. Everyone in the know, knows that. The F-22 might be superior, but the f-35, when deployed properly is pretty untouchable right now.