Hahah bomb truck with above average sensors, name another aircraft save some AWACS that have such long range sensors with such specs. I never said it will be world class dogfighter, I only said the F-35 will have unparalled sensory and situational awareness when it comes flying and fighting. Cockpit visibility issue is due to large head rests, this will be fixed.
No one ever promised it to be Air superiority fighter, its obvious its more a bomb truck.
Wow! finally you have accepted that the F-35 is just a bombtruck. Good for you, i know it's not been easy.
I stand vindicated. Damn it feels so good. Excellent work
@Bahamut @Kharavela @Pulkit @Chinmoy
All the crap about parity doesn't really matter the Russians have been doing with China for years, grow up and realize every nation is concerned most with self interests.
As for India becoming a client state, how does it matter. Have you been asleep for the last 8 years? 10 C-17s, 12 C-130Js, 22 Apache, 15 Chinooks, 12 P-8Is, potentially 16 S-70Bs. All with options for more we could end up seeing over 3-4 sqds of Apaches more, around 123+ MH-60s or S-70Bs, more Chinooks. There is talk of Chinook or Apache line in India. What about 125 Engines for Jag re-engine or 120+ GE engines for LCA Tejas. What about the LM2500 GE engines on the INS Vikrant. We already are a client state. In such short time if this doesn't show that we are a client then I don't understand what will.
Yeah why bother with the geopolitics crap? Anyway it's way beyond your comprehension. And no I haven't been asleep it's just that you started following world history much later than me and your understanding of it is limited to pretty much post 9/11. Pardon me as I didn't mean to break the limbo you are currently living in.
Well tactics will evolve just like they still have to evolve on the Tejas, this is not an excuse to shun the F-35 just like the Tejas. All such things take time. No new aircraft comes with an hand book on tactics since day 1. Also I am not asking to buy it now, order it in 2020 FOC version for the Indian Navy, they will good aircraft for the Naval air arm.
I'm a fair guy and I believe in giving credit where it's due. Frankly this is the only para where I totally agree with the author. Well he believes that I'm not in touch with the ground reality but I'll let this one slide.
And since totally I agree with only this particular para I would like to contribute to it. The F-4 Phantom II which was the savior and dofighting star of the USAF in the Vietnam War was originally built as a missile carrier. It was severely criticized for being too heavy to dogfight and for its unreliable avionics & weapons. So blinded was the USAF by its belief in the concept of BVR that earlier variants which entered the war didn't even have a cannon. They were retrofitted only when the mounting losses became too significant to be ignored. Although the F-4 was never as agile as the MiG-21 its success can be attributed mainly to the ingenuity of its pilots who innovated tactics based around its superior thrust and excellent handling. Also with each new variant the F-4 became a more capable and agile fighter.
Similar analogies can be drawn to the case of the F-35 too. I have spewed enough vitriol against it. Who knows with further weight reduction, slight revisions to airframe and more powerful engines it might even stand a decent chance against its more maneuverable/agile counterparts? As I have mentioned earlier nothing can replace the brain in the cockpit and ultimately everything depends on him/her.
That being said I do agree with the author of captioned post that it would be a good addition to the Indian Navy but in small numbers. F-35 in conjunction with MiG-29K would be a very potent fleet air-defense and anti-ship platform. The F-35 would be the stealthy eyes & ears whereas the MiG-29K would do the heavy lifting. However in no way should it be interpreted as a justification for its acquisition by the IAF where the operational requirements are completely different.
Well looks like it's pretty much case closed for me and I won't have any more reasons to post counter-arguments on this thread.