I hope IRST isn’t the anti stealth card Gaijin pulls.
…? If they didn’t have external AIM-9Xs fighting Iran they’re not having them fighting any actually near peer adversary…
knowing them i wouldnt be too surprised honestly
Not really, the air threat from IRIAF was basically non existent so why carry extra munitions when you won’t need them, especially with how strike packages are built where you probably have dedicated CAP anyway.
Because we all know IRIAF are the sole proprietors of air threats and that SAMs do not exist.
Drone threats were extensive in the region and CENTCOM has not disclosed US drone shootdowns.
In the skies over Iran?(Or anywhere else in the Middle East) Yes
Which has nothing to do with needing 9Xs?
Not to fighters? And the counter-drone flights were primarily 4th gens flying with FALCOs
Discounting a Kuwaiti pilot, I presume? 💀
The removal of the external pylons was a deliberate move to keep RCS low as possible, as is doctrine when entering any new theater. There were plenty of to not keep it as such, which indicates a credible threat. Beast mode only comes out once the air threats are clear - of which it never did in the F-35s as far as I’m aware, and I’m sure that USAF would’ve loved to be able to field their full loadouts given the known difficulties in delivering enough payload to targets resulting in strikes with minor successes.
This is pretty well known doctrine. They did it with Iran and never progressed further in it beyond that theater entry stage. Don’t forget that Hensoldt have already claimed they were able to track F-35s for ~150km just using passive radar alone. The RCS isn’t as low as people expect, and additional pylons absolutely adds to that. I’m not sure why people are claiming otherwise.
You are not an authority on this topic and you are nobody to tell me USAF doctrine bub
Lol
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did you just call him, blob?
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Bub, short for bubba. And I’m correct. From what I can tell he’s not even American, let alone has any real world experience in what he’s trying to argue with me about
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and you do
Yes.
right.
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typical
Regardless of threat presence Iran is simply so big that F-35s need to maximize their range by not using external stores.
You think the additional fuel drain from 2 external sidewinders is sufficient to reduce range that much…? Absolutely not.
I don’t care if you believe me, I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt and the ribbons.
But I can definitely tell when someone hasn’t.
And I never claimed to have done.
Now we definitely know you’re capping lmao
? Yes the military has ribbons on their dress uniforms