Back in 2015, a report emerged about a series of dogfight trials between America’s newest stealth fighter, the F-35, and the nation’s workhorse 4th generation platform, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the results were damning.
The F-35, according to the report, was no match for its own predecessor, losing scrap after scrap between the two jets. But, as we’ve come to find out since—that report was missing some significant context… and the F-35 isn’t nearly the slouch it’s been made out to be.
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Further Reading:
Original article: https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/can-the-f-35-dogfight-the-truth-behind-the-infamous-2015-report/
Dogfighting analysis: https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/are-the-days-of-dogfights-over-an-in-depth-air-combat-analysis/
F-35 acquisition: https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/what-went-wrong-how-the-f-35-got-to-be-so-expensive/
F-35 pilot on the jet’s bad press: https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/an-f-35-pilot-explains-why-the-jets-bad-press-misses-the-point/
Citations
Original War is Boring story by David Axe: https://medium.com/war-is-boring/test-pilot-admits-the-f-35-can-t-dogfight-cdb9d11a875
Kris Osborn article from National Interest: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/remember-f-16-killed-f-35-report-years-ago-it-was-wrong-192996
