Robotic combat is decades away. The difference between takeoff / landing / threat avoidance / bad weather management / targeting / etc. and actually fighting a nimble jet with a well trained and imaginative pilot is like night and day. Someday, maybe. Not anytime soon...

Imported cabs in America?
Should be a sin...

Do any of those "normal" people own cars?

You're only seeing part of the story here. We are all over both Russia and China in terms of spying. We fly close to their airspace, and we nudge into their airspace. We do this stuff all the time, all over the world. Sometimes they just get real pissed at us.

I don't believe you either. I get the point you're trying to make. However, I doubt that there are any "car guys" in the UK that don't know what a Mustang is. Zero. I'd even extend that to "guys that own cars" in the UK- almost all of them would know what a Mustang is, too.

There's a reason why pilots sang this song:
Don't give me a P-39...
With it's engine mounted behind...
It'll tumble and spin,
And soon auger in...
Don't give me a P-39...

I think the aircraft was much better off with radials. I think the crews would have agreed. Radials can take a heck of a lot more punishment, and still get their crews home. And taking punishment was what the B17 was all about...

or maybe the guy just f*cked up...

Yikes.
Good to be living in Canada...

"the investor-driven model that forces the margins that forces the layoffs doesn't let the company keep great people—even if they want to or need to."
Well said.
Truer words have rarely ever been written...

Ain't nothing wrong with that; he was just askin'...

Most other options are silly expensive, too. And older.
The only alternative to the F35 in my view is replacement by new Super Hornets.

...to the western side I would think...

That's why I showed close-range large-caliber weapons. The 12 gauge must use a slug; not shot...
Geologists isolated in the field are usually armed.
However, I hear bear spray is pretty effective.
My question is- if it's you, alone, with a bear looking at you hungrily, and you don't give a shit about being a part of the…

100% correct.
...and for cheap f*cks...

Black bear: fight like mad.
!!????!!!
Okay, here's two of my suggestions:

Nose and cockpit reminiscent of the old German H2-129 of the WW2 era...

Most of your points are valid.
However, I can't accept #6 - you're using the same misleading numbers that the F-35's detractors are using. The thing was designed for stealth, and for that role, it can indeed carry only two 1000 lbs bombs, and has a short range on internal fuel. But as a carrier strike fighter,…

Always a good point. However, in peacetime (is there such a thing?), and in protracted wars, supercarriers are the most effective (and fastest) way to project power...

A fair comment.
You have to pay for a huge military somehow.
However, you need to remove the lazy part - it is subjective. Just focus on the poor - that's measurable. Don't help them, or help them less, if you're okay with that. Works best if you're not poor.