Well, yeah, I was adopting MarchUntoTorment’s exaggeration.

Cool F-22 flir shots

Well, for one thing, I kinda doubt it is that durable. Either way, the USAF doesn’t want it.

We won’t do it, because it would be political suicide for the air service, but it’s certainly an intriguing idea.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, convergent evolution and all that, I’ve had friends argue before that that’s all it is. But Alex Zuyev admitted that the Russians actively copied a lot of their aerospace research based on western work. Their attitude was basically, “why should we spend the money when everything they do is…

F-35's IR signature is also a lot more diffuse, though, because of certain design decisions. And it’s a little simplistic to claim that lower bypass means greater IR signature in all situations. F-35 also has better active countermeasures.

4 A-10s, 2 OA-10s, 6 Hogs total. One of the A-10s and one of the OA-10s made it back to King Khalid with battle damage but crashed on landing resulting in loss of the airframes.

Yes, but USAF has been trying to retire the A-10 since the 80s...

Yeah, you’re right. The Philippine Air Force, which currently owns 0 real fighters, would totally be interested in the A-10.

You’re right, the purchaser should never specify what the product does........ /s

The Air Force should just buy Orcas already. ;-)

That is a problem that can certainly be improved with VR and 360 degree cameras.

Whenever I see an RT picture of a US weapons system I always just hope it’s because they fear it.

While the F-35B has certainly hurt the other two variants by lowering their performance, I don’t think it’s fair to say the F-35B is currently holding back the A and C. And you’d have a few miffed allies if you “canceled” (by which, I assume you mean stopped funding) the F-35B at this point, not the least of which is…

This is my solution as well.

...wat

To be completely fair, do you know which USAF aircraft don’t use Sniper Pod? The B-2, F-22, and F-35. (Not that the F-35 is in combat)

Any idea how often the A-10 actually expends 20k+ lbs worth of ordnance during a CAS mission?

So... you basically want a Scorpion with a big gun?

See, I keep saying that and getting shot down.