Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy
At this point, pretty much everything I've been able to find is speculation. The USAF only has a couple of F-35s so far, and pretty much all official info is classified above Secret...which means if you arent directly involved (and even if you are, in some cases) you dont find out.
But...its not specifically a fighter, it will basically have the same mission as the F-16. Which means primarily dropping bombs, while carrying a couple of air-to-air missiles to defend itself. If it were launched on a no-kidding A2A mission, I'd expect it to kill a Rafale with little difficulty. I'd expect it to be comparable to a Typhoon, although the stealth ability would probably give it a BVR advantage. I'd expect it to kill an Eagle with little difficulty.
Personal opinion and expectation, nothing more.
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Well, the F-35 only carries 2 AMRAAMs in it's internal bays - the rest are bomb hardpoints, AFAIK. I don't know if it's weapon bays have been upgraded, but if they get upgraded, the F-35A/C can carry 4(or maybe 6) AMRAAMs internally. This means that it will probably kill as many Eagles/Hornets/Typhoons/Rafales/Su-35s as it has AMRAAMs. Once it's internally stored AMRAAMs are finished, and it's BVR stealth is no longer an advantage, it's best move would be to get out of there.
So I'd say that it would have a kill ratio of 4-0 per plane in a sortie unless something weird happens and an F-35 is lost. If this could happen to an F-22, it can happen to an F-35.
The F-35C would be the best of the lot, and can theoretically execute carrier strikes from longer distance than Super Hornets can and not expose the position of the carrier. It's also better than the Bug in A2A until it runs out of missiles.
IMO, the F-35A will replace the F-16 and F-117, but not the A-10, while F-35B will replace the AV-8 Harrier and the F-35C will partially replace the F-14.
F-22 doesn't compare to the F-35. They're supposed to complement each other in a Hi-Lo combo, not rival one another.