Really Mr. Sprey, the F-35 is "astonishingly unmaneuverable?" Some metrics are available regarding the F-35's raw performance and by and large most everyone agrees that the F-35 is as maneuverable as an F-16 with a comparable stores load-out, and in many ways the F-35A actually exceeds the F-16's nimbleness under real world operational circumstances. Most sources, including the test pilot corps flying the F-35 to the extremes of its envelope today, say that the aircraft most closely matches the F/A-18 Hornet in performance, which is no slouch.

Finally, Mr. Spey's talk of wing-loading as if it were the only factor that dictates an aircraft's maneuverability is a great simplification of aerodynamics, propulsion and flight control systems, but I will save you the long technical spiel here. The F-35 does have higher wing loading than many other fighter aircraft, but the story is so much more complicated than just that, and Mr. Sprey's lack of disclosing this reality is an issue.

I don't think many people are looking at the F-35 and saying, boy that is one shitty attack aircraft! The fact that it can hold a pair of 2,000lb class weapons and a pair of AIM-120 AMRAAMs internally is one of the F-35A & C models best attributes, along with its unbelievably capable avionics suite and sensor fusion.

Once again, I think Mr. Sprey is living in a totally different era, as a pair of 2,000lb class guided air-to-ground weapons means potentially two massive targets destroyed with close to 100% accuracy, day, night, cloudy or clear.

Is Pierre Sprey really Doc Brown who traded in his Delorean for a time traveling F-16 that runs on banana peels and flux capacitors?

FACT: The USMC introduced the AV-8A Harrier in 1971 and it has been a mainstay of their air arm ever since.

So although stealth aircraft are not invisible, they can work far closer to many enemy sensor sites and anti-aircraft emplacements than traditional non-stealthy aircraft can. Thus allowing them to exploit areas where the enemy's sensor systems have enough reduced detection range that their "threat rings" do not overlap, which could allow the stealthy aircraft in question to safely fly though these gaps. This is precisely why building a very clear and up-to-date picture of the enemy's electronic order of battle is very important for successful stealth operations.

«F-35 – вероятность поражения которого составляет 24 к 0 – поразил все цели, - заявил генерал-лейтенант Джон Дэвис. – Это было все равно, что смотреть на велоцираптора из «Парка Юрского периода»: он уничтожил все и действительно проделал хорошую работу. Не можем дождаться, когда этот самолет поступит к нам в парк».