Joe sent me this article (thanks guy!) where the author outlines the case for the F-35 as the ultimate multi-role/air superiority fighter of its generation (to include the F-22...if he's right then that explains why the former SecDef canceled it)
He's an unashamed supporter of the program and he gives the best explanation of the F-35's capabilities that I've read. Read the whole thing but a snippet.
Interesting.The F-35 is the first aircraft in history with a 360 degree field of vision out to 800 miles, managed by an integrated combat system. Make no mistake -- the F-35 is a full combat system, not just a platform. The beauty of a combat system is the maintenance, upgrades, deployment readiness, development synergies provided by common software for upgrades and development.The F-35 will revolutionize air combat operations, especially in the Pacific. Fifth generation aircraft like the F-35 are at the heart of a potential new air combat system enterprise. The F-22s may have been the harbinger, but it lacks the essential air combat systems present on the F-35. Deployed as a force, the JSF enables distributed air operations that are crucial to the survival of our pilots in the period ahead. Distributed operations are the cultural shift that fifth generation aircraft, along with investments in new weapons, remotely piloted aircraft and the crafting of simultaneous rather than sequential operations, bring to the fight.The Japanese understand the opportunities to leverage the F-35 combat system enterprise and that is why they chose the aircraft.Before the JSF, military leaders would have to tack on additional systems to legacy aircraft to provide new capabilities. The pilot would be forced to manage each new system. The F-35's five major combat systems are already integrated and interact with each other to provide capabilities. The functional capabilities that emerge from that interaction are done by the machine and are not simply correlated with a single system. For example, jamming can be done by several systems aboard the JSF but the machine decides which one to use. And the entire system rests on a common architecture with broadband capabilities.
