5 ms·

Which airplanes are currently supposed to be replaced by the F-35? Everything (basically from the A-10 to the F-22) or only specific (sub-ranges of) models/vari

Which airplanes are currently supposed to be replaced by the F-35? Everything (basically from the A-10 to the F-22) or only specific (sub-ranges of) models/variants?

onepointsixC 7y ago
F-16, A-10, AV-8B, F-18. Though there will still be variants of the F-18 flying for much longer along side.
- zepearl 7y ago
  Thx => so a maneuverable fighter (F-16), with hardcore ground-attack and survivability features (A-10), able to VTOL (AV-8B), and do whichever special things the F-18 can do (a generalist?). Forgetting about budget overruns and malfunctions etc... I personally think that it won't excel in anything (technically I think that it cannot vs. specialized aircrafts), and that putting everything on one card is extremely risky.
  - onepointsixC 7y ago
    Here's the thing, the A-10 gun is only useful against light targets, so it would often just be a bomb/missile truck. F-16 started out as a nimble fighter but ultimately became a much heavier multi role. The F-18's are also multi roles often used as bomb/missile trucks. The AV-8B were multi role but had huge limitations in range and weight. The F35 is shaping up to be better than all. Now that it's software limitations have been pushed further it is shaping up to be quite a nimble aircraft[1]. Especially since the legacy fighters have to carry external weapons which add drag. It has superior high AoA to all four. It has better range and payload capacity than all of the aircraft it replaces. A new 100% purpose built aircraft for each role maybe could perform better but as it stands the F-35's shaping up to still be better than the aircraft it replaces. And now reaching $77.9M for Lot 14's the F-35A variant is cheaper than just about any other western modern fighter jet. The legacy jets it replaces also experienced serious issues early in their programs and were decried in the media as boondoggles[3]. They're now considered to be excellent jets. To really hit the point harder, the only F-22's, which is an air superiority fighter, combat missions and kills have been acting in ground attack missions. The F-15 which is also an air superiority fighter had an entire variation of it later built called the F-15E Strike Eagle which turned it into a multi role bomb/missile truck. In case I'm not making it clear, for all the variation that exists in different possible roles for jets they tend to usually end up centering in doing a lot of the same same work. That's why the F-35 is ultimately going to be very successful. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0hWzaKEeZo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0hWzaKEeZo [2]: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2019-10-30/lm-receives-7b-f-35-order-f-35a-price-dips-below-80m https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2019-10-30/l... [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkrtxDdaWuM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkrtxDdaWuM
    - zepearl 7y ago
      Interesting - thank you!
redis_mlc 7y ago
What was planned in the past, and the reality today, are not the same thing. There's over 2,000 F-16's in the field, and that qty. of F-35's will never be built because of the cost and mfg. capacity. So likely the F-35 will be used where possible, backed up by thousands of older planes. To give you an idea of how serious the cost/mfg. problem is, the late 1950s F-5 is in heavy use for the foreseeable future - training, adversarial Top Gun fighters, research, drones - you name it. The little fighter (4,000 made) is saving us billions now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_F-5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_F-5
- zepearl 7y ago
  Thanks about the reminder about the F-16s - wasn't aware that so many were still active. I think that I remember that the F-5 was in the original "Top Gun" movie, that it was near its end-life when the movie was shown (I investigated after watching the movie), and that in the movie it had the role of a simulated MIG-antagonist. (gosh, I LOVED that movie when I saw it as a teenager) Maybe the stagnation of engineering/production of F-35 and/or alternative models is caused by Russia/China not pushing for similar capabilities? There have been news about some new fighters but I didn't read anything about them being mass-produced... .

Which airplanes are currently supposed to be replaced by the F-35? Everything (basically from the A-10 to the F-22) or only specific (sub-ranges of) models/variants?

onepointsixC 7y ago

F-16, A-10, AV-8B, F-18. Though there will still be variants of the F-18 flying for much longer along side.

zepearl 7y ago
Thx => so a maneuverable fighter (F-16), with hardcore ground-attack and survivability features (A-10), able to VTOL (AV-8B), and do whichever special things the F-18 can do (a generalist?). Forgetting about budget overruns and malfunctions etc... I personally think that it won't excel in anything (technically I think that it cannot vs. specialized aircrafts), and that putting everything on one card is extremely risky.
- onepointsixC 7y ago
  Here's the thing, the A-10 gun is only useful against light targets, so it would often just be a bomb/missile truck. F-16 started out as a nimble fighter but ultimately became a much heavier multi role. The F-18's are also multi roles often used as bomb/missile trucks. The AV-8B were multi role but had huge limitations in range and weight. The F35 is shaping up to be better than all. Now that it's software limitations have been pushed further it is shaping up to be quite a nimble aircraft[1]. Especially since the legacy fighters have to carry external weapons which add drag. It has superior high AoA to all four. It has better range and payload capacity than all of the aircraft it replaces. A new 100% purpose built aircraft for each role maybe could perform better but as it stands the F-35's shaping up to still be better than the aircraft it replaces. And now reaching $77.9M for Lot 14's the F-35A variant is cheaper than just about any other western modern fighter jet. The legacy jets it replaces also experienced serious issues early in their programs and were decried in the media as boondoggles[3]. They're now considered to be excellent jets. To really hit the point harder, the only F-22's, which is an air superiority fighter, combat missions and kills have been acting in ground attack missions. The F-15 which is also an air superiority fighter had an entire variation of it later built called the F-15E Strike Eagle which turned it into a multi role bomb/missile truck. In case I'm not making it clear, for all the variation that exists in different possible roles for jets they tend to usually end up centering in doing a lot of the same same work. That's why the F-35 is ultimately going to be very successful. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0hWzaKEeZo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0hWzaKEeZo [2]: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2019-10-30/lm-receives-7b-f-35-order-f-35a-price-dips-below-80m https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2019-10-30/l... [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkrtxDdaWuM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkrtxDdaWuM
  - zepearl 7y ago
    Interesting - thank you!

redis_mlc 7y ago

What was planned in the past, and the reality today, are not the same thing. There's over 2,000 F-16's in the field, and that qty. of F-35's will never be built because of the cost and mfg. capacity. So likely the F-35 will be used where possible, backed up by thousands of older planes. To give you an idea of how serious the cost/mfg. problem is, the late 1950s F-5 is in heavy use for the foreseeable future - training, adversarial Top Gun fighters, research, drones - you name it. The little fighter (4,000 made) is saving us billions now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_F-5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_F-5

zepearl 7y ago
Thanks about the reminder about the F-16s - wasn't aware that so many were still active. I think that I remember that the F-5 was in the original "Top Gun" movie, that it was near its end-life when the movie was shown (I investigated after watching the movie), and that in the movie it had the role of a simulated MIG-antagonist. (gosh, I LOVED that movie when I saw it as a teenager) Maybe the stagnation of engineering/production of F-35 and/or alternative models is caused by Russia/China not pushing for similar capabilities? There have been news about some new fighters but I didn't read anything about them being mass-produced... .