spazsinbad wrote:'mixelflick' said: "...I do forsee a time when the F-35 will be WVR of an opponent. This may be due to ROE's (especially foreign air arms not familiar or comfortable with the sensor technology) and it's going to make the F-35 perhaps THE most dangerous WVR machine ever. The speed at which the F-35 can ID enemies vs. friendlies during a fight is blinding...."
And so the dogfights begin again. Get over it. The F-35 has 650 ways to ID a bogey whilst the F-35 operators have plenty of confidence & knowledge of this system, which they can tailor specifically for their area of operations - with others - BVR.
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=5525&p=404068&hilit=Osley#p404068 [AVM Osley RAAF: F-35 650 Parameters BVR ID quote]
I read that and understand your point, but I'm not a fan of absolute statements.
You seem to be saying dogfights won't ever happen again. I'm saying although rare, it's still going to happen. Case in point: Dogfights of Desert Storm. The same DS where for the first time, more BVR kills were racked up vs. dogfights. Yet there was one instance where an F-15's first sparrow fell helplessly off the aircraft, its motor failing to ignite. The next sparrow missed. His 3rd and 4th missile's tracked, first one hit and 2nd flew through the fireball. By that time though, he was down to a WVR fight (at least on of those last 2 was a Sidewinder).
You can argue that the AMRAAM's PK is going to be higher in the F-35 vs other aircraft and I'd agree with you. But if the air force didn't think it was important, why did they make part of the requirements "rates like a Viper, can point its nose like a SH"? Why not eschew that altogether??
I'm just not a fan of absolute statements (i.e. dogfights are never going to happen again. Never is a long time. Let's settle on "extremely rare"..