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Enthusiast Joined: Oct 20, 2006 Posts: 88 Status: Offline

dwightlooi wrote:

. . . Why F-35? . . .

I would offer a slightly different take. Not whether or not the F-35 has merit, but why it is the airplane that it has become.

The F-35 is a compromise, driven in large part by the needs of ONE particular customer (the US Marine Corps), that the airplane's largest customer (the US Air Force) has had to make its peace with.

Some of us remember the original down-select from three, to two JSF prime contractors. At the time, the airplane that looked like it would be the best CTOL contendor was not the Lockheed Martin concept - but the McDonnell Douglas concept. The Lockheed concept had its proponents, but was pricey. The Boeing concept was likely the cheapest, but even then it was flat out ugly. The McDonnell Douglas proposal looked like it would make the best Air Force fighter - but they didn't have a convincing story for how they would make the STOVL version work.

The conclusion was that McDonnell Douglas lost the competition, and was subsequently absorbed by a triumphant Boeing. It was made painfully clear: the JAST (later relabeled as the JSF) had to first and foremost meet the Marine Corps requirements.

I'm not saying that the F-35 doesn't have a great future ahead of it in the Air Force, merely that it is not entirely what the Air Force would have ordered if it were completely up to the Air Force alone.

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Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Why F-35?