> If you don't need stealth, you can send an F16 instead. Not necessarily? An up-to-date F-16 block is still pretty expensive to field and needs external pods

> If you don't need stealth, you can send an F16 instead. Not necessarily? An up-to-date F-16 block is still pretty expensive to field and needs external pods to do a lot of the stuff the F-35 can do internally (laser designation, IRST, advanced datalink, the works). It has a far smaller combat radius (295 nmi versus 669 nmi) and isn't outfitted with modern A/G weaponry outside SEAD missiles like the HARM. There are a whole number of reasons why you'd want to field an F-35 in the F-16's place, even without stealth on the table. Low radar response is the cherry on top of the strike package.