The PAK-FA is a generation 4+ fighter, like the Rafale or Typhoon. It’s not a 5th generation fighter by any stretch of the imagination.

I’ve done my best to ignore you up to this point. If you’re gonna ask questions like that even though I clearly labeled three separate and slightly differing opinions, then you should probably pray your stealth works better than the Russian’s...

Yeah.....except that’s blatantly false.

Are you kidding? Even in it’s current state of development, the F-35 is a generation ahead of anything else, except the F-22. Why is it that you always assume that the general officers making these decisions are all incompetent, politically-motivated hacks, instead of professionals making a judgment call based on a…

And if you look at that study you realize the authors excluded the F-4 and the A7 and then calculated the O&S cost growth based on three times the F-22 costs which will be much cheaper than that of a 5th gen land based fighter + 5th gen carrier fighter + 5th gen STOVL fighter.

Wanna bet that many of the F-35 detractors were screaming Craptor at the top of their lungs just a few years ago and now it’s all “they should have bought more F-22s”

My impression has been that most F-16 pilots would prefer going WVR against a Su-27 in a F-35 than doing SEAD/DEAD against double digit SAMs in a F-16 even if the thing only ends up flying as well as a F-18.

hum, disagreeing with Tyler on a point is dangerous since he knows all, sees all, but, here goes anyway. The idea of using UCAVs as surrogates for air-to-air engagements is tenuous at best. The UCAV may be flying primarily with artificial intelligence, but there is still that electronic umbilical cord back to the…

David Axe has a perpetual axe to grind with certain platforms, because arguing against evil defense contractors on behalf of John Q Taxpayer will garner you clicks and readership.

I can’t stand much of anything he writes nowadays. Less substance and more screaming into the echo chamber.

If you keep weapons systems from getting shipped to your enemy by complaing to the country selling them, that is A LOT cheaper then buying new weapons/tactics to deal with it...

As an Australian I shudder every time I see AirPower Australia quoted anywhere.

Thats how much modern aircraft cost. Too often people take the price of the original model released decades ago and apply inflation. That’s bs. A modern f16 cost 60 to 80 million. An f15e cost 110+ million. A eurofighter cost 125+. A super hornet is 70 to 85million. A Rafale is 100 million.

This seems to have devolved into a very circular argument.

Define “outperform”?

Two amramms plus up to 2 two thousand class weapons, eventually will hold 8 sdb. Cuda missiles should be purchased which would allow eight internal missiles.

True, but our continued fixation with close-in combat stems from traumatic Vietnam flashbacks of cannon-less Phantoms firing dud AIM-7s and then getting torn apart by supposedly inferior MiGs, whether we say it outright or not. And no doubt, that was an invaluable lesson.

I think the biggest problem is the misunderstanding about the program...just look at the name:

The Bradley turned into a good vehicle and most of the things it was lampooned for have been copied by every new apc.

Yeah, I don’t know how good of a comparison this is. Finland got some stripper F2A-1’s from us and promptly went 32:1 against the Soviets...

visual range air-to-air engagement tests between an F-35A and an F-16C