The F-35 has no credible performance

Marketing disinformation for Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon and various other faith-based fans of the F-35 Just so failed is a story of fraud by trick or device.

We were told by marketing that the aircraft would be 6 times better than legacy fighters in air-to-air.

Odd because that was never a real requirement. The aircraft was supposed to be an affordable, joint coalition strike aircraft suitable to do interdiction and close air support after the F-22 had destroyed all of the big threats.

Today, we only have about 120-some combat-coded F-22s. Those will be approaching severe airframe life issues in the 2020s-2030s.

The problem with the marketing claims for the F-35s alleged air-to-air ability are many. For instance, see the limitations here.

Then there are videos like this which represent the F-35s performance over 12 years from the time Lockheed Martin won the contract to build the F-35.

Two different independent aerodynamics engineers evaluated the video. One may have given it too much credit, claiming 2gs in a turn. Another stated 1.2g.

The other problem with ignoring kinmatic performance is that air-to-air missiles have a low probability of kill. You have to carry enough of them and you need extreme speed and altitude to have the power to decide if you want to engage and if so...how you want to engage. The F-35 does not have that ability.

Compare the above linked video to this of the Su-35. This represents the kind of capability that will be a threat to the F-35 over its alleged lifetime.


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-Time's Battleland - 5 Part series on F-35 procurement - 2013 
-Summary of Air Power Australia F-35 points
-Aviation Week (ARES blog) F-35 posts (2007 to present)
-U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) F-35 reports
-F-35 JSF: Cold War Anachronism Without a Mission
-History of F-35 Production Cuts
-Looking at the three Japan contenders (maneuverability)
-How the Canadian DND misleads the public about the F-35
-Value of STOVL F-35B over-hyped
-Cuckoo in the nest--U.S. DOD DOT&E F-35 report is out
-6 Feb 2012 Letter from SASC to DOD boss Panetta questioning the decision to lift probation on the F-35B STOVL.
-USAFs F-35 procurement plan is not believable
-December 2011 Australia/Canada Brief
-F-35 Key Performance Perimeters (KPP) and Feb 2012 CRS report
-F-35 DOD Select Acquisition Report (SAR) FY2012
-Release of F-35 2012 test report card shows continued waste on a dud program
-Australian Defence answers serious F-35 project concerns with "so what?"
-Land of the Lost (production cut history update March 2013)
-Outgoing LM F-35 program boss admits to flawed weight assumptions (March 2013)
-A look at the F-35 program's astro-turfing
-F-35 and F-16 cost per flying hour
-Is this aircraft worth over $51B of USMC tac-air funding?
-Combat radius and altitude, A model
-F-35A, noise abatement and airfields and the USAF
-Deceptive marketing practice: F-35 blocks
-The concurrency fraud
-The dung beetle's "it's known" lie
-F-35's air-to-air ability limited
-F-35 Blocks--2006 and today
-The F-35B design is leaking fuel



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