I believe the F-35 was supposed to have a SEAD variant or "SEAD-mode". The F-4 Wild Weasel filled that role for a long time until the AF gave up on SEAD and ha

I believe the F-35 was supposed to have a SEAD variant or "SEAD-mode". The F-4 Wild Weasel filled that role for a long time until the AF gave up on SEAD and handed it off to the Navy with the EA-6B Prowler. The Prowler did well and was replaced the Growler which has a decent reputation (or so I've heard). Given the mess that the F-35 has been, I'm in agreement with the parent -- this may be a recognition that the AF needs a EW/SEAD fighter like the Growler and the F-35 will have some limitations. The F-15 also has some serious combat persistence, which isn't terrible for an EW/SEAD craft, esp. since anyone thinking about fighting the US is investing heavily in AA, both in technology as well as sheer volume of systems. Having a big "missile truck" with EW makes squashing all of those systems a little easier. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Weasel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Weasel Disclaimer: I'm legally still a Whidbey Island WA resident and have connections to the Growler project. However, the above points are simply opinions.