Also gonna put this out there, and I have the greatest respect for the GAU-8, but the A-10 would be singularly useless against supersonic bombers and anti-ship cruise missiles.
So entirely unsure why you decided to add that into a quote about supersonic bombers and cruise missiles.
Eventually yes. They're heavily invested in using the f-35 for EVERYTHING. And the different f-35 A, B and C versions are almost different planes entirely. I heard that they have only 25% common parts or something like that.
In my opinion in USAF service it'll be outlived by the F-15EX at least. In the USN / USMC, it'll likely need backup by F/A-18 Super Hornets for the same reason as F-22 needs F-15.
Until generation 5 becomes cheap or the main adversary, there'll always be a need for generation 4 and 4.5 backup to fill gaps in the sky.
The RAF has already designed, named and costed the replacement for the F-35 Lightning II (called Tempest).
Oh yes, each one of them is almost like an entirely unique plane. That’s because they are designed to cover most (if not all) of the roles that an land-based and sea-based fighter can do.
In my opinion in USAF service it'll be outlived by the F-15EX at least. In the USN / USMC, it'll likely need backup by F/A-18 Super Hornets for the same reason as F-22 needs F-15.
It's becoming a political and logical nightmare. For example, the engines are serviced in Turkey. Which means 2 things.
Broken engines need to be shipped from the UK to Turkey.
If turkey are being naughty and we give them a slap, they'll decide not to allow in or give back our engines, leaving the planes grounded.
I’m not entirely sure... yes the Cold War and the Space Race were an immense boost to space exploration, but I think we would have gone to the Moon anyway.
I’m not entirely sure... yes the Cold War and the Space Race was an immense boost to space exploration, but I think we would have gone to the Moon anyway.