Test Pilot: the F-35 Can't Dogfight

schwit1 sends this report from the War Is Boring column: A test pilot has some very, very bad news about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The pricey new stealth jet can't turn or climb fast enough to hit an enemy plane during a dogfight or to dodge the enemy's own gunfire, the pilot reported following a day of mock air battles back in January. And to add insult to injury, the JSF flier discovered he couldn't even comfortably move his head inside the radar-evading jet's cramped cockpit. "The helmet was too large for the space inside the canopy to adequately see behind the aircraft." That allowed the F-16 to sneak up on him. The test pilot's report is the latest evidence of fundamental problems with the design of the F-35 — which, at a total program cost of more than a trillion dollars, is history's most expensive weapon. Your tax dollars at work.

Comments

Re:Drone It

[fustakrakich]

It was built to fly in the dense atmosphere of Venus. Or maybe it's actually a submarine (like 007's Lotus). It will pull lots of g's when it hits the water. Remember, it's a secret weapon.

The F-35 can't dogfight

[ArcadeMan]

That's okay, AFAIK we're not at war against dogs.

Re:Drone It

[Krishnoid]

They see themselves as terrible assassins, not righteous heroes fighting a murderous enemy.

See, that's the problem -- as long as they see themselves in either role, it won't work. Perhaps if they were isolated at youth, taught to fight each other, and then misled into thinking it was just a really good video game or simulation of some sort. I bet they could make a movie out of that.

Re:Drone It

[asylumx]

There is a book named En... ohhhhh..... I see what you did there.

Re:Drone It

[Ecuador]

See, that's the problem -- as long as they see themselves in either role, it won't work. Perhaps if they were isolated at youth, taught to fight each other, and then misled into thinking it was just a really good video game or simulation of some sort. I bet they could make a movie out of that.

No, it would suck as a movie, Hollywood would completely miss the point of the story. Better if it was a book. Or even a series of books - you could even narrate it from different points of view.