Glad you mentioned the F/A-18. One thing the author fails to understand, is that the term "Joint Strike Fighter" is given to planes with a very specific purpose

Glad you mentioned the F/A-18. One thing the author fails to understand, is that the term "Joint Strike Fighter" is given to planes with a very specific purpose. The F-35 is supposed to be a replacement for the F/A-18, which is a plane designed to be good at fighting in air-to-air combat and amazing at striking targets on the ground. The F-35 has a similar mission, and as a result, it isn't meant to be the ultimate air-to-air weapon. All else being equal, a specialized product should be better at it's given task than a hybrid, and the F-35 is a hybrid. That being said, there are still some significant problems with the F-35.