U.S. may scrap F35, set to be Israel's fighter jet of the future

Senior members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee last week instructed the Pentagon to come up with alternatives to the jet fighter of the future, the F-35, with the project facing massive cost overruns.

www.haaretz.com...

The future seems very cloudy for the F-35.

Is it because it is rubbish or becasue it is ridiculously expensive per plane?

Any tech heads out there who can shed some light on this?

In my opinion this appears to be a huge waste of money. The RAF is slated to purcahse some F-35'S. I would take the Typhoon over this plane any day of the week.

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Bit off topic but Interestingly the UK carriers are getting catapults and the Typhoon is being Navalised.. Which leaves me wondering what is going on with these new/and newer fighters. But I'm not a tech head so could be blowing bubbles..

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Yes it is appears a catapault system is being employed to house the F-35C, no mention of the Typhoon

In the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, it was announced that the carriers would be converted to CATOBAR configuration in order to operate the F-35C variant of the F-35 Lightning II, instead of the F-35B STOVL variant.

en.wikipedia.org...-sdsr-9

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Sorry meant it more as conjecture given the timing of the news that the Typhoon now has a navalised version as an option.

defense-update.com...

reply to post by Peruvianmonk

I'm guessing the f-35 was a show plane to make other countries think we are making about the same thing they are. The stealth is almost 30 years old. the SR-51 is like 50, A-10 is like 40 years old. I think our country got smart after they showed the the first stealth bomber people began to understand what the tech did and how they did it. I doubt we will show what's up our sleeve. i bet its un maned and has g capabilities no other plane could think about add in close to 30 years of research for the new plane after the first Iraq war. Im guessing it has no heat signature, radar resistant,high g capabilities, super advanced targeting systems, and uses a computer based program to adjust to flight formations the enemy uses. typical drone set up of collecting data on the enemy's planes and capabilities.

reply to post by thoughtsfull


That is cool. I reckon the Tyhpoon would take the F-35 all day long, it is so manerouvable.

Because of their perfomances over Libya the Typhoon & Rafale are now the only to Jet's in contention for India's purchasing of a fleet of new aricraft. The American F-35 was sdeemed to expensive and the F-18 as limited in the ground attack role.

Originally posted by Peruvianmonk

Senior members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee last week instructed the Pentagon to come up with alternatives to the jet fighter of the future, the F-35, with the project facing massive cost overruns.

www.haaretz.com...

The future seems very cloudy for the F-35.

Is it because it is rubbish or becasue it is ridiculously expensive per plane?

Any tech heads out there who can shed some light on this?

In my opinion this appears to be a huge waste of money. The RAF is slated to purcahse some F-35'S. I would take the Typhoon over this plane any day of the week.

edit on 24-5-2011 by Peruvianmonk because: Spelling

As far as I know, the F-35 is an amazing plane.... but yeah, they are extremely expensive. Knowing the U.S. If they are dumping the F-35, it's because they developed a newer, more expensive plane.

First they canceled the F-22 (don't worry, the Chinese have one) and now murmurings about the F-35. So let's just go ahead and throw away yet another working technology.

The F-35 is currently undergoing test flights of the C variant (carrier). Link

reply to post by billxam


The F-22 was a joke though wasn't it? Hugely expensive with little advancement?

Yes the Carrier version seems to be the more popular choice to the STOL version.

Why is that? something to do with manuverability, thrust, weight?

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Well it wouldn't be the first time idiot politicians have cancelled an aircraft project just as it is coming to fruition.

Hopefully somebody with a bit common sense will sort these idiot pen pushers out.

The F-35 is not a singularly US project by the way, it is a joint venture and to cancel it would mean paying out to the companies involved, so if your going to pay for it anyway you may as well finish it and have something to show for the money.

Personally i think it is a great plane and it will make a perfect replacement for the now aging F-16s.

I'm still amazed that the US administration never bothered to make any F-23s, what a waste of a brilliant airframe.

It has been my belief for years now that the US administration was infiltrated in the late 80s early 90s as that seems to be the only reason i can fathom for the wholesale undermining of the US lead in advanced aircraft.

I know UCAVs are now well advanced but they are hardly cheaper, not the stealth attack ones anyway.

The mind truly boggles.

Cosmic...

reply to post by Cosmic4life


F-23? Never heard of that, sounds sexy though.

More info please!

When the US say that they are canceling the F-35.
It means that the US wont be buying any F-35s for themselves.
The US will still be producing F-35s for the nations who have ordered them.
Norway is getting their 50 F-35s.

The F-35 is more expensive and less capable then the Chinese J-20. It only makes sense for them to scrap the project.

reply to post by Buddha1098


Surely only if they have a replacement to boot?

The Chinese JU-20 - There is very little information on this right?

I remember it being crictised for being a much to big & bulky design, that was by 'Western' defence analysts however so their opinions may be overly biased.

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


I am referring to the Northrop YF-23 of course.

Although the YF-22 and the YF-23 were pitched against each-other for the advanced fighter requirement, a mere glance comparison indicates that actually the YF-22 would cover the F-16/F-18/F-15 roles whereas the YF-23 would cover F-18/F-15/F-14 roles.

In my opinion the YF-23 would be the perfect plane for the US Navy and the YF-22 perfect for the US AirForce.

Yet incredibly the administration of the day failed to purchase both planes, the Cold War was over and they got sloppy.

YF-23, greatest aircraft never made, a great shame.

Cosmic...

Originally posted by Buddha1098
The F-35 is more expensive and less capable then the Chinese J-20. It only makes sense for them to scrap the project.

The F-35 is a Multirole Fighter and is way more agile in design than the J-20.

Also the F-35 has an electronics suite that is beyond the Chinese ability to duplicate.

The J-20 is FighterBomber/Strike Fighter/Interdiction/Reconnaissance aircraft, it is not built to take on Fighters.

The two should not really be compared as they are designed for different roles.

The current design of the Chinese Stealth Fighter project is underway but yet to be revealed, hopefully by the end of this year, maybe early next year, we will get to see what it looks like.

Cosmic...

At the looks of this news, it seems like the u.s. won't be in a good situation when it comes to mass producing these planes in the time of need. If the the F-35 was expensive then the F-22 must of been a whole lot more.

This shows the inability of the U.S. to fund military programs and planes etc, this looks like quite sad news, if other countries start producing more Fifth generations then the U.S. that would shift the power of the globe Military, Especially for China and Russia.

Originally posted by Cosmic4life

YF-23, greatest aircraft never made, a great shame.

I beg to differ, the F-108 Rapier was the greatest aircraft never made.

Mach 3 fighter escort for the B-70.

reply to post by Version100


Lets add the BAC TSR.2 to that list, another victim of political stupidity.

And of course the XB-70 itself, another awesome plane.

Of the Century series jets, the F-106 Delta Dart is probably the greatest single engine fighter ever made, certainly still the fastest.

Maybe somebody should start a couple of threads, the greatest aircraft ever made and the greatest aircraft never made.

Cosmic...

reply to post by Version100


Your wrong..... The AVRO Arrow was the best aircraft ever built.....