3 ms·

The modern list will start with the F-35.

arethuza 10y ago
The air defence variant (ADV) of the Tornado might be on that list as well - taking an aircraft that was designed for low level bombing and making it into an interceptor must have seemed like a good idea to someone.
- willvarfar 10y ago
  And the tornado adv went into service before the radar was ready to be fitted, so the first squadrons had concrete blocks of equivalent weight in the nose. This was mockingly dubbed "blue circle" after the "rainbow" code-naming convention and the well-known cement company. Luckily the Russians didn't come.
sandworm101 10y ago
I'd say that, for the purposes of the exercise, the f-35 isn't yet a plane. It is a development program. The aircraft hasn't yet been deployed and so cannot be judged. Some very successful aircraft have come from questionable programs (f-15, U2 etc). We shouldn't blame the airframe for how it was created.
- gozur88 10y ago
  The first squadron of F-35As was declared operational in August. The plane is officially out of development and can be sent into combat.
ecnal 10y ago
Eh, the F-35 is more an example of how truly infinite time and money can eventually overcome even the worst development processes—at this point the LRIP 10 35As are coming in around the mid-$90m range flyaway with engine, which puts them solidly under the Rafale/Eurofighter price point and on par with the still-in-development Gripen NG. The Danish type selection report is worth a read. Here's some actual contenders for a modern/Cold War list, though it should be noted that most of these aren't fatally flawed in some fundamental fashion, just designs that didn't turn out as hoped: - the F-111: much too expensive and only good at long-range strikes - the original Hornet, but not the Super Hornet: not enough fuel and too immature a design for its intended role - the Eurofighter: mind-blowingly expensive, its AESA radar development program is older than the F-35 project and still isn't available, unfortunately timed (becoming a mature platform as VLO aircraft begin to enter service in many air forces) - the F-16/LWF as it was originally conceived: range-only radar, no real payload, more or less a target drone - the MiG-29, a point defense fighter that never really could be molded into a true multirole
- lostlogin 10y ago
  How do you price something while ignoring the development cost? You can't really call it a less expensive plane and ignore the sunk cost can you? I'm far from an accounting expert as you likely realise.
nl 10y ago
The F-35 development program was terrible. It turns out that it might just be a decent plane though. Eg https://theaviationist.com/2016/03/01/heres-what-ive-learned-so-far-dogfighting-in-the-f-35-a-jsf-pilot-first-hand-account/ https://theaviationist.com/2016/03/01/heres-what-ive-learned...

The air defence variant (ADV) of the Tornado might be on that list as well - taking an aircraft that was designed for low level bombing and making it into an interceptor must have seemed like a good idea to someone.

willvarfar 10y ago
And the tornado adv went into service before the radar was ready to be fitted, so the first squadrons had concrete blocks of equivalent weight in the nose. This was mockingly dubbed "blue circle" after the "rainbow" code-naming convention and the well-known cement company. Luckily the Russians didn't come.

sandworm101 10y ago

I'd say that, for the purposes of the exercise, the f-35 isn't yet a plane. It is a development program. The aircraft hasn't yet been deployed and so cannot be judged. Some very successful aircraft have come from questionable programs (f-15, U2 etc). We shouldn't blame the airframe for how it was created.

gozur88 10y ago
The first squadron of F-35As was declared operational in August. The plane is officially out of development and can be sent into combat.

ecnal 10y ago

Eh, the F-35 is more an example of how truly infinite time and money can eventually overcome even the worst development processes—at this point the LRIP 10 35As are coming in around the mid-$90m range flyaway with engine, which puts them solidly under the Rafale/Eurofighter price point and on par with the still-in-development Gripen NG. The Danish type selection report is worth a read. Here's some actual contenders for a modern/Cold War list, though it should be noted that most of these aren't fatally flawed in some fundamental fashion, just designs that didn't turn out as hoped: - the F-111: much too expensive and only good at long-range strikes - the original Hornet, but not the Super Hornet: not enough fuel and too immature a design for its intended role - the Eurofighter: mind-blowingly expensive, its AESA radar development program is older than the F-35 project and still isn't available, unfortunately timed (becoming a mature platform as VLO aircraft begin to enter service in many air forces) - the F-16/LWF as it was originally conceived: range-only radar, no real payload, more or less a target drone - the MiG-29, a point defense fighter that never really could be molded into a true multirole

lostlogin 10y ago
How do you price something while ignoring the development cost? You can't really call it a less expensive plane and ignore the sunk cost can you? I'm far from an accounting expert as you likely realise.

nl 10y ago

The F-35 development program was terrible. It turns out that it might just be a decent plane though. Eg https://theaviationist.com/2016/03/01/heres-what-ive-learned-so-far-dogfighting-in-the-f-35-a-jsf-pilot-first-hand-account/ https://theaviationist.com/2016/03/01/heres-what-ive-learned...