You could. And then get shot down by advanced enemy SAMs, that can’t even see the F-35. Adversaries don’t stay put. I’m not in favor of retiring the A-10 until the F-35 shows it can do the job, and even then it’s cheap enough it might make sense to retain it for use in permissive airspace, but it’s silly to think it…

Alright, you want a wall of text you get a wall of text.

Passive stealth has had its day, but there are systems in deployment or in planning that makes all but the most capable passive stealthed platforms essentially pointless. This includes now airborne systems, some of which are being mounted to fighters.

The F-35 is projected to cost $85 million in 2018 when it hits full production. That’s significantly cheaper than most 4th gen fighters like the F-15, Rafale and Typhoon.

Apparently you disagree with the US GAO

- Every year it gets cheaper.