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F-35B/C Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter)

I think they told us about halfway through cruise we could start flying auto if we wanted to. By that point I didn't see any appeal. Don't fix that which is - arguably - not catastrophically broken. That's my mentality.
 
I think they told us about halfway through cruise we could start flying auto if we wanted to. By that point I didn't see any appeal. Don't fix that which is - arguably - not catastrophically broken. That's my mentality.

yeah, I agree......I had no desire either.
 
It just seems a
Autos = Crack.

Mode 1 = Crack when I feel like being lazy at night.

Some of that instantaneous lift without throttle movement stuff seems pretty cool and very useful.

I think a lot of the comparisons between JSF and the F-18 are being done by dudes with no experience in Block 2 Super Hornets. You could say a lot 33 Rhino is light years ahead of a lot 13 Charlie too. Obviously with time comes new and better technology but the Rhino isn't done either. I would love to see an airwing with Advanced Super Hornets and a smattering of JSF.
There is a handful of Lot 37's at the RAG right now...new car smell and all. We don't REALLY get into the tactics here, but people who know seem to be excited about it's capabilities.
 
Downplaying expeditionary fixed wing ops and amphibious STOVL efficacy is naive. Reference Chu Lai in 1967 and Odyssey Dawn in 2011. It's all about footprint. Sending a CVN is a much different power projection message than a MEU offshore that retains a long reach with tactical aviation capabilities, which was important in the 'limited kinetic action' of Libya.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20110328/DEFFEAT04/103280304/Harrier-Ops-Making-Case-F-35B

If LtCol Stout didn't realize in all his years that Marine Aviation always has to have something unique and different to remain viable, then he needs to open his eyes. An air wing with nothing but hornets/F35Cs might as well be in the Navy, and budget decision-makers will see it as such. No one is denying the F35C is expensive and behind timeline. I am of the opinion that the wait will be worth it, because we are preparing for the next fight, not the last one. But to discredit STOVL in general is clueless and out of touch. What a shame- I wanted to fly in the Marines after reading "Hammer From Above." Wasn't there a story in there praising Dingle's landing on a highway in Iraq to refuel at a FARP?
 
The most important thing is to have a flexible approach. . . . The truth is no
one knows exactly what air fighting will be like in the future. We can't say
anything will stay as it is, but we also can't be certain the future will conform
to particular theories, which so often, between the wars, have proved wrong.

-Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF
 
Some of that instantaneous lift without throttle movement stuff seems pretty cool and very useful.
As much as all of us joined Navy Air because it was hard, the easier you make it to land on the boat, the greater the pool of people who will be able to do it. That means less money and time wasted by having to attrite someone late in the game in Advanced or the FRS. Which means more people who can spend more brain cells on the whole reason the boat is there: flawless tactical execution.

Granted, you're still going to have to be able to throw a no-HUD pass, I know.
 
Yes...it does.

No, it doesn't. It uses a helmet mounted display instead, which is not a HUD:

f35_technology_helmet.jpg
 
Downplaying expeditionary fixed wing ops and amphibious STOVL efficacy is naive. Reference Chu Lai in 1967 and Odyssey Dawn in 2011. It's all about footprint. Sending a CVN is a much different power projection message than a MEU offshore that retains a long reach with tactical aviation capabilities, which was important in the 'limited kinetic action' of Libya.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20110328/DEFFEAT04/103280304/Harrier-Ops-Making-Case-F-35B

If LtCol Stout didn't realize in all his years that Marine Aviation always has to have something unique and different to remain viable, then he needs to open his eyes. An air wing with nothing but hornets/F35Cs might as well be in the Navy, and budget decision-makers will see it as such. No one is denying the F35C is expensive and behind timeline. I am of the opinion that the wait will be worth it, because we are preparing for the next fight, not the last one. But to discredit STOVL in general is clueless and out of touch. What a shame- I wanted to fly in the Marines after reading "Hammer From Above." Wasn't there a story in there praising Dingle's landing on a highway in Iraq to refuel at a FARP?

It was the power projection message that led to the MEU being apart of Odyssey Dawn and I would say all of that changes when you start putting JSF onto the small decks.

I don't think there is anyone who would argue the necessity of STOVL but I do feel that including it in JSF was not the best thing for us. The issues that it caused and capabilities that were lost are far to great. I'm not really sure what having a stealth CAS platform buys us. I think we would have been better off coming up with a Super Harrier the same way we did the F/A-18 and leaving out the F-35B.
 
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