The F-35 is a weapons system designed to continue the US's ability to easily win a conventional war against a high 2nd tier state power in their own territory.

The F-35 is a weapons system designed to continue the US's ability to easily win a conventional war against a high 2nd tier state power in their own territory. What this might look like is the total rout in 1991 of Iraq, which had the fifth largest army in the world, and advanced surface-to-air defenses, defeated in large part by stealth technology. This fighter is basically stating to these threats: you are not going to be able to defeat or stalemate us at our own game. I know this isn't a popular sentiment around here but consider the difference in outcome between the 1990 invasion of Kuwait vs the 2013 invasion of Crimea: only in the one where we had absolute military superiority did the US - or "the UN" if you prefer - actually get a say in how it turned out. Who does this entail today? The big two are clearly North Korea and Iran. Stretching it, I'd add Taiwan, Ukraine and the Eastern bloc, India on the China border, Philippines, and Venezuela becoming some type of Cuba situation. Then there are proxy wars between major powers like Syria, which will likely continue to occur in the middle east and Africa for several decades. Even if we don't enter these fights, we'll be able to give our allies this plane. (Or maybe they'll turn down the most advanced plane ever built because the pilot helmet has issues in high humidity situations /sarc.) This isn't going to neutralize the other two main powers, it will continue to be an imperfect - maybe even useless - weapon against their anti-ship and surface-to-air capabilities. It can't defeat the 3rd world and it can't defeat a superpower. The question is: is the price worth what it can do (which is defeat 2nd tier powers / proxy adversaries for the next ~25 years)? Or is there something which can do that better?