Speaking of the F-35 I saw UK planning to purchase more with a possibility of purchasing 35A.
Perhaps, but I’d still doubt it will come anytime soon and I doubt it will be recognisable.
what is 34A? or do you just mean they might buy 34 of them
I’ve not been following it, but they need to if they want to max out the carrier capacity on both carriers.
Though with the current… US Situation… I can see them waiting until 2028 before doing anything.
I’m on my phone.
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March 30th one of you MoD said the 35 was probably the best way forward. Till the tempest. Paraphrasing.
eh, LM isnt the same as the US govt. LM wants money and selling to UK is one way to make it
As for the F-35A?
I have no idea.
I would have to find the article again. But in it they talked about possibly replacing some older EFTs with the 35s.
Its still a US manufactorer and US arms exports have been a… contenious issue here in europe the past few weeks
It might be in some regards. But I do think the F-35 is a largely too speciailised aircraft that doesnt do well on its own. Id still largely reckon the Typhoon should remain the main multi-role fighter until the Tempest is fully up and running.
But the MoD largely speak nonsense so I wouldnt really trust what they say much. Just look at the lead up to the Falklands, the early retirement of the Invicible-class carriers and the retirement of the Harriers.
All pretty fatal mistakes
Found it.
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its only drawbacks are limited payload, and mediocre flight performance. it has top of the line sensors, able to use most modern weaponry, and with beast mode it can be used as typical CAS.
an F-35 on its own will do just fine, even more with block 4 upgrades
Either way when the F-35 does come to the game. The UK should now be able to get the 35A and 35B. Unless something falls through.
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nice, good for them
Right, so in a QRA role, which is what the Typhoon spends most of its time doing, the F-35 would be the inferior aircraft.
I do also reckon the F-35 would have struggled more in providing the level of support the Typhoon did during Op Shader. Some of its deployments would have been fine, but others Im not so sure. I certainly dont see F-35s doing gun strafing runs in a dusty valley providing close air support to troops in contact.
I also really question whether the F-35 would cope with operating out of a dusty airfield like kandahar airfield. iirc, the F-22/F-35 coating doesnt like dust and I doubt the F-35 could have managed with the kind of close air support the Harrier Gr9s provided (RIP in GR9s)
F-35 coating is very different from F-22 coating. and yeah, you are right about QRA except for F-35B which i think could get in air faster.
Pretty close I reckon from brakes off to landing gear up vs a light-combat fit Typhoon on max afterburner vs F-35B with skii ramp launch
F-35 would take longer to reach altitude probably, but imo its worth the couple seconds since you get a much more capable a2a platform
But… is it?
Whilst stealth does have its advantages, its not always everything. In a QRA situation, id consider the stealth advantages of the F-35 as negligble, comapred to handling, radar and minimal time to target. Those factors could be life or death
Im not dismissing the F-35s performance. Its good. I just think that its only exceptional in a few specific envrionments such as SEAD or CAP in contested air space.
In other mission types most common these days, like COIN, F-35 doesnt really do much that others can’t match or even beat.
I dont think any airforce should become entirely dependent on the F-35s and should maintain a mix of airframes, at least the ones that tend to get invovled such as the UK.
Like providing CAS to TIC, I reckon the Harrier Gr9 would slap an F-35 silly all day long in that role (we really shouildnt have retired them all)