F-35 Fighter Jet

Discussions center on the F-35 Lightning II's capabilities, criticisms of its high costs, maintenance issues, dogfighting performance, and development delays, alongside defenses highlighting its stealth, sensors, avionics superiority, and role in modern air combat compared to planes like the F-16 and F-22.

➡️ Stable 0.6x Hardware
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Keywords

McDonnell US www.pogo CAS HN en.m MIG AIM USAF BVR 35 fighter aircraft air jet stealth planes plane 15 countries

Sample Comments

dpflan Jul 28, 2015 View on HN

More details about the F-35, related post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9803043

wly_cdgr Feb 25, 2021 View on HN

F-35, the Jira of fighter planes

codesuela Mar 22, 2012 View on HN

Looks like the F-35 is the SAP of fighter jets

okket Apr 1, 2017 View on HN

Original source: "F-35 Continues to Stumble"http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2017/f35-continues...

bdamm Dec 4, 2016 View on HN

The F-35 isn't a dogfighter either.

strictnein Jan 2, 2021 View on HN

Which plane, exactly, is superior to the F-35?

xnyan Aug 4, 2021 View on HN

Former USAF. Agree with the other comments about treaty obligations, personally I think the F35 is a prime example of insane, out of control project management that has become quite common in US aerospace development.All that being said, the F35 does serve a role that others can't fill. When people think about fighters, generally two planes locked in a dogfight come to mind. This is a 20th century way of thinking about air superiority. Take the F22 as an example, it's well loved by

jayalpha Mar 28, 2019 View on HN

Why the downvote?1. It is a one trick pony. I can't fly fast, can't carry big payload, can't dog fight and takes a shit-load of maintenance. The only advantage is that it may or may not be "invisible" to opponents. I am sure it outclasses any third world countries like Iran, Iraq, whatever. But against China or Russia this is a big if. And if not (invisible) then you are screwed big time. You bought a ton of trade-offs for one advantage that disappeared.Take this

ikekkdcjkfke Mar 21, 2025 View on HN

F35 has more electronic warfare infra backing it

josefresco Jan 30, 2020 View on HN

Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning...