Awfully favorable. While as a nerdy fellow, I appreciate the sci-tech invloved, i remain highly skeptical of its cost to performance ratio. The producer fails to highlight that the proponents of...
Awfully favorable. While as a nerdy fellow, I appreciate the sci-tech invloved, i remain highly skeptical of its cost to performance ratio. The producer fails to highlight that the proponents of this aircraft are highly incentivized to keep its shortcomings hidden from view, and indeed the negative test piolot review was only available via a leaked report.
I've had the privilege of seeing the F-35 in action many times. I've seen it pound shooting and bombing ranges where I've seen F-16s, F-18s and other jets of various nationalities train. I've been...
I've had the privilege of seeing the F-35 in action many times. I've seen it pound shooting and bombing ranges where I've seen F-16s, F-18s and other jets of various nationalities train. I've been in and seen the F-35 in simulator.
I've spoken to Finnish, Swedish, German, American, Italian and Norwegian fighter pilots about the F-35. Both on record and off. I've spoken to meek American F-22 pilots beaten by Norwegian F-35 pilots in close combat exercises. I've spoken to Swedish JAS 39 Gripen pilots who train cross-border with Norwegian F-35s on an almost weekly basis.
Everyone says the same thing: What they see in the air is superior to other capabilities they've trained with.
Everyone is also equally open about the fact that they do not train with the full range of options available to the F-35 in air. The peak performance is not something to be revealed for free unless it's strictly necessary in real conflict. Especially here in Norway where Russia and Russian radar is so close by.
I've spoken to generations of fighter pilots from those who had their careers in the F-5s in the 1960s through to ones who started flying after 2015. Fighter pilots are extremely competitive, self-centered and hate losing to a fault. They say without exception that the F-35 is the most impressive fighter in the air. Even when they won't ever fly it.
But they also say it's expensive, that separate planes would have been better, and that they're unsure how effective stealth is against the most modern radar technology. Is the performance worth the price tag?
For a country like Norway, today Norwegian non-stealth F-16s are outdated. They cannot penetrate Russian air space. Norwegian air space partially lies within the Bastion defense area Russia would lock down in a time of high tension. Norway expected to spend NOK 306 billion (in 2019-prices, around 33,5 billion USD at current exchange rate) on the lifetime costs of new bases, 52 F-35As and lifetime use through 2054 when the F-35A was chosen in 2009. The most recent estimate is that the cost will be NOK 30 billion cheaper than expected despite much less favorable NOK-USD exchange rates than foreseen thus far.
Could the F-35 program and whole process towards a multi-role 5th generation multi-role fighter have been better and cheaper? Obviously. Could the same performance aircraft have been made at a lower cost? Without a doubt. The actual aircraft at hand seems impressive. Whether it's worth it is a complicated geopolitical question we won't have the answer to for years.
Awfully favorable. While as a nerdy fellow, I appreciate the sci-tech invloved, i remain highly skeptical of its cost to performance ratio. The producer fails to highlight that the proponents of this aircraft are highly incentivized to keep its shortcomings hidden from view, and indeed the negative test piolot review was only available via a leaked report.
I've had the privilege of seeing the F-35 in action many times. I've seen it pound shooting and bombing ranges where I've seen F-16s, F-18s and other jets of various nationalities train. I've been in and seen the F-35 in simulator.
I've spoken to Finnish, Swedish, German, American, Italian and Norwegian fighter pilots about the F-35. Both on record and off. I've spoken to meek American F-22 pilots beaten by Norwegian F-35 pilots in close combat exercises. I've spoken to Swedish JAS 39 Gripen pilots who train cross-border with Norwegian F-35s on an almost weekly basis.
Everyone says the same thing: What they see in the air is superior to other capabilities they've trained with.
Everyone is also equally open about the fact that they do not train with the full range of options available to the F-35 in air. The peak performance is not something to be revealed for free unless it's strictly necessary in real conflict. Especially here in Norway where Russia and Russian radar is so close by.
I've spoken to generations of fighter pilots from those who had their careers in the F-5s in the 1960s through to ones who started flying after 2015. Fighter pilots are extremely competitive, self-centered and hate losing to a fault. They say without exception that the F-35 is the most impressive fighter in the air. Even when they won't ever fly it.
But they also say it's expensive, that separate planes would have been better, and that they're unsure how effective stealth is against the most modern radar technology. Is the performance worth the price tag?
For a country like Norway, today Norwegian non-stealth F-16s are outdated. They cannot penetrate Russian air space. Norwegian air space partially lies within the Bastion defense area Russia would lock down in a time of high tension. Norway expected to spend NOK 306 billion (in 2019-prices, around 33,5 billion USD at current exchange rate) on the lifetime costs of new bases, 52 F-35As and lifetime use through 2054 when the F-35A was chosen in 2009. The most recent estimate is that the cost will be NOK 30 billion cheaper than expected despite much less favorable NOK-USD exchange rates than foreseen thus far.
Could the F-35 program and whole process towards a multi-role 5th generation multi-role fighter have been better and cheaper? Obviously. Could the same performance aircraft have been made at a lower cost? Without a doubt. The actual aircraft at hand seems impressive. Whether it's worth it is a complicated geopolitical question we won't have the answer to for years.