Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning and F-22 'Raptor' : News & Discussion

Is it such a surprise that CAATSA has killed the Russian market and France is benefiting? They should thank the US for nearly every sale.

If you disagree, you can google a list for 2002 and show differently.
2022
Rank
SupplierArms Exp
(in million TIV)
1
23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png
United States
14,515
2
23px-Flag_of_France.svg.png
France
3,021
3
23px-Flag_of_Russia.svg.png
Russia
2,820
4
23px-Flag_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China.svg.png
China
2,017
5
23px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png
Italy
1,825
6
23px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png
Germany
1,510
7
23px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png
United Kingdom
1,504

1950–2019
Rank
SupplierArms Exp
(in billion TIV)
1
23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png
United States
692,123
2
23px-Flag_of_Russia.svg.png
Russia*
598,375
3
23px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png
United Kingdom
143,205
4
23px-Flag_of_France.svg.png
France
125,932
5
23px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png
Germany
87,431
6
23px-Flag_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China.svg.png
China
56,160
I've got this:

 
Why would I lose face? the deal was killed before Rafale.
The Americans have tried again and again to revive the contract and have long said that the sale of the Rafale did not mean that the sale of the F-35 was cancelled.

“Combined with the 50 F-35’s currently on order with Lockheed Martin, these 80 Rafale amount to a total replacement of the more than 130 F-16’s and Mirage 2000’s that comprise the current Emirati fighter fleet,” Patrick said.

As it stands, most the UAE’s 138 mission-ready fighters are US-made, with 80 F-16E/F’s and some 53 French-made Mirage 2000-5D/E. So, “UAE acquisition efforts over the last two years [flipped] those numbers, with French-made tails now comprising the majority of the UAE fighter fleet,” Patrick noted.


Defence sources said the Rafale would replace the Mirage 2000 fleet but is unlikely to displace the American-built F-35 as the UAE continues to hedge its security with two main suppliers, France and the United States.
 
OOPS : Fly by wire still not finished ?

Software glitch during turbulence caused Air Force F-35 crash in Utah​

What is particularly serious is that this is the second accident of this kind and that it has not been corrected between the two. Normally this is a category 1 accident and forces the fleet to stay on the ground until it is corrected.
What's more, L.M. has said that the probability of this happening again is extremely low, whereas the second accident took place 9 months later.
 
The Americans have tried again and again to revive the contract and have long said that the sale of the Rafale did not mean that the sale of the F-35 was cancelled.





Are you having translation issues? I said "It will be opened again if they meet the export requirements."
 
What is particularly serious is that this is the second accident of this kind and that it has not been corrected between the two. Normally this is a category 1 accident and forces the fleet to stay on the ground until it is corrected.
What's more, L.M. has said that the probability of this happening again is extremely low, whereas the second accident took place 9 months later.
Yes agree. It could even be the case for the lost japanese F-35A.
 
1. we need a proper competition!

2. That competition was not proper, since we lost

repeat steps 1-2 until preferred result is achieved
You are learning fast. All the comps where Rafale lost were rigged. Australia cancelled the Rafale et al comp when france was in australia and went straight to the f-35
 
ANd that's the report :
There are two problems :
1 - Fly by wire has lost its efficiency
"The recovery of the crash survivable memory unit (CSMU) accurately captured all relevant information to the cause of the mishap. While the MA mission data recordings were not available for review due to damage sustained in the post impact fire of the MA, flight member mission recordings were available. CSMU data analysis and integrity checks demonstrated that: 1) the flight control system operated as designed; 2) the Air Data System (ADS) hardware and its associated firmware performed as designed; and 3) the propulsion system operated nominally and without issues throughout the flight. In addition to CSMU data and formation member mission recordings, I relied on witness interviews and simulator reenactment to reach an evidence-based causal conclusion. F-35A, T/N 15-5197, 19 October 2022 30 I find by a preponderance of the evidence the cause of the mishap was the MA departed controlled flight due to ADS errors immediately prior to landing in which there was no opportunity to recover to controlled flight. I find by a preponderance of the evidence one significantly contributing factor to the mishap: the MP did not increase landing spacing from preceding aircraft in accordance with wake turbulence procedures."

2 - The pilot could not recover for example by choosing an emergency mode and disconnect the main mode.

The second one seem to me more serious since it's a misconception.
 
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my friend, If the USAF is a credible source of information then as you say "USAF's own words":

The F-35A is the U.S. Air Force’s latest fifth-generation fighter. It will replace the U.S. Air Force’s aging fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt II’s, which have been the primary fighter aircraft for more than 20 years, and bring with it an enhanced capability to survive in the advanced threat environment in which it was designed to operate. With its aerodynamic performance and advanced integrated avionics, the F-35A will provide next-generation stealth, enhanced situational awareness, and reduced vulnerability for the United States and allied nations.

Features
The conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A gives the U.S. Air Force and its allies the power to dominate the skies – anytime, anywhere. The F-35A is an agile, versatile, high-performance, 9g capable multirole fighter that combines stealth, sensor fusion and unprecedented situational awareness.

The F-35A’s advanced sensor package is designed to gather, fuse and distribute more information than any fighter in history, giving operators a decisive advantage over all adversaries. Its processing power, open architecture, sophisticated sensors, information fusion and flexible communication links make the F-35 an indispensable tool in future homeland defense, Joint and Coalition irregular warfare and major combat operations.


(Or as they say in France "politique!")

the official USAF website FACT sheets:


Sure. Great commerical.

Its interesting. its far more generous to the F-35 than I would have expected. The whole vapourware idea wears thin when we remember that for better or worse the F-35 has its own parameters and expectations. falling short of some of these expectations does not mean the F-35 falls short of other competitors as you point out. what happens when anything else is subjected to the same JSE "block 4 or death" levels of threats? we would find there are a lot of "vapourware" aircraft out there. Which is one of the things I suspect happens at a lot of these competitions. The presumptions about what takes place at these competitions is always funny to see. What if countries were getting actual current capability comparisons and the F-35 was still winning? its hard to imagine that after 20 years of woes the F-35 is getting the most scrutiny from the forces picking it. its the highest profile, its problems are not exactly hidden... The F-35 would be facing the most difficult hill to climb. Gripen E should be the easiest for various reasons and one of those being a lack of bad press.

Being individually better than the Rafale or Su-35 is irrelevant when you bring in the entire system. Can the F-35 defeat the Su-35 in air combat? Yes. Can it defeat the Su-35 in combination with the S-400/500, satellites, EW, AWACS and other force multipliers? No. It's 'cause what's needed to defeat the system doesn't work yet.

Do you see what I'm getting at? The F-35 can defeat the Su-35, but not the VVS, and because of the VVS, the Su-35 can defeat the F-35.

So, an Abrams defeating a T-90 is irrelevant if the Abrams cannot also help its supporting infantry take a position because it cannot defeat an ATGM. The end result is an Abrams is dead along with a T-90, but no territory has exchanged hands, making it moot.

With respect to India and the Rafale, I would think most Indian Rafale fans would come to understand that bad reputations gained in the media are not necessarily conducive to reality. I would think you would agree the bad reputation the Rafale has garnered is not accurate.

Some of this is silly. in your example of the F-35 still not being in "full rate production" its seemingly irrelevant when 150 aircraft are being produced in "low rate" production, but the Rafale is struggling to get to 36 aircraft produce per year. but on paper the F-35 is not in full rate production and and the Rafale is in Full production (despite issues)

It's relevant, because it shows confidence in the program. In reality, the F-35 shouldn't even be in production. The original aim was to just build 150 in the current configuration and use it for training, while the remaining 2200 would be B4+ jets. But now there are nearly 900 jets. So the production itself is a failure.

if they are not talking about the aircraft why did they specifically mention F4 and F5 separately?

strange that when F-35 hasn't integrated certain weapons its "vapourware' but when the Rafale has not integrated something, its just a matter of needing more time to unlock that future capability of course!

it all sounds very familiar... I've also noticed that when the F-35 is going to get something someday in general its met with great skepticism but when the Rafale is going to get something someday its already assumed that it has it already and instantly counts in its favor, even if the capability is years away.

No. You are confusing normal development of the Rafale with the failed development of the F-35. There is no issue with the Rafale's airframe, core avionics or engine, as new capabilities are being developed, they are being added to the Rafale. That's it. But the F-35 program is plagued by development issues relating to core avionics and engine. So it's not even met the basic threshold of being operationally employable against a challenging enemy.

The F-35 is a next gen Fighter that uses next genearrion capabilities that already does SEAD... remember its the Rafale playing "next generation" catch up here and the idea behind a something like an F-35 is that its stealth and sensor combination means using more conventional weapons as opposed to hypersonic silver bullets you will never have enough of. (The affordable, not yet invented anti-radar hypersonic missile is not vapourware of course)

B4 is necessary for FOC.
 
I don't think they are picking anything over anything. They will still operate American aircraft next to french aircraft. Which is what has been taking place for 40 years.

I don't see how there can be anything "Stolen" when a shared existence was already the case? Egypt is still the 4th largest F-16 operator in the world. you are a child if you believe procuring rafales makes all the F-16s disappear, anymore than buying F-16s made the Mirage 2000s evaporate.

The F-16 currently outnumbers the Rafale in Egyptian service 10:1. when all the rafales are delivered it will be about 4 F-16s for every Rafale.

Most of those F-16s are old and are being replaced by Rafales. So they may operate up to 100 Rafales. And India is interested in replacing their F-16s with LCAs, including license production.


Nah, the Americans are being replaced in Egypt.

There's a political angle too, America is reliant on Turkey, whom both France and Egypt dislike.

7tzwfk.jpg


Egyptian Mirage 2000

Yeah, 1 squadron.

i wish that was so...

Why are you using words like "stolen" to describe some kind of TV style dramatization for a country that has operated different types from different countries for decades? You said the French took egypt as a "new market."-- false. The Mirage 2000 that is still in service there would indicate there has been a French presence for some time. one could say the French are "expanding their previous market", but is it a new market to France? clearly not. That is not an argument "on merit," and "stolen" implies something is taken that does not belong and that a crime is being committed as opposed to someone making a choice or having a preference. its emotional language with heavy implications. Before the Egyptians ordered Rafale they bought Mig-29s from Russia, so did Russia "Steal" from the US? or did the French steal from the Russians? all 3 types operate there.

its insulting to the French to ignore the Mirage 2000 sale (emotionally that makes me happy) to build a false narrative that France is the newcomer "stealing" from the US. You are not as sophisticated as you hope, and your accuracy leaves a lot to be desired even if emotion was removed-- but even then it is not. it just looks like "Fanboying" when Egypts numbers are actually looked at. Its going to take the full Rafale order of 24+30 just to surpass the current 40+ Mig-29s flying in Egypt. not to mention all the other American things that fly in Egypt. presumably if the F-15 deal goes through the US will have "Stolen" from France and the US will be "winning' in Egypt, until of course the Egyptians order something from France again... Then you can tell us how France has captured a "new" and previously "All American" market!

It has been enjoyable watching you pretend to be mature while missing what any grown up can plainly see yet you ignored in order to promote a falsehood that supported your preferred end in order to "get" those dastardly Rafale doubters

The term "stealing" is used in the business world.


You've confused it with "robbing".
 
1. we need a proper competition!

2. That competition was not proper, since we lost

repeat steps 1-2 until preferred result is achieved

We need an unbiased market. India is one of them, but it's too late for that. It's a good place to see a Su-57 vs F-35/NGAD competition though.

Most other unbiased markets are still up and coming. Basically markets which neither US nor France are obligated to protect so a country can make its own independent analysis.
 
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In a 1 vs 1 head on fight between Rafale and F-35, what kind of kill exchange ratio can we expect? I disagree with @randomradio about 9:1 kill ratio in favour of F-35. I think 6:4 would be fair enough! What say?
Yes, but you're not counting the F-35s that have been grounded because they're undergoing maintenance. Aircraft are over-used in times of crisis, but this is already the case for the F-35 while the US is at peace! Their objective is to fly the F-35 for 200 hours a year, but they can't manage more than 150-160 hours.

The Rafale, on the other hand, flies 250 hours a year and can go up to 1000 hours a year and even 350 hours for a month in "Surge" mode.

Remember that a combat aircraft is only useful when it flies.
 
And I said "They told us that they didn't like being taken for fools and that they would never buy an F-35."

The whole thing looked like Kabuki theater. The US words never followed action. people here are convinced the US does everything short of putting a gun to the heads of its allies in order to do anything to sell F-35s, but everything with the UAE would make clear the US did not want to sell F-35s to the UAE no matter what words were used. Paused on sales, The price arbitrarily high, a list of rules about China the UAE was likely to reject and the US saying "we are very commited to delivering these F-35 to the UAE!" meanwhile the entire system was actively setting road blocks.

*Pauses sale from the start*

"What part of

*arbitrarily High costs*

we want to

*Lists of rules*

sell you F-35s

*Politicians openly protesting the sale*

Don't you understand, UAE?"

even by the measurements and conspiracies' here, when the US wants to force F-35s, then F-35s happen. It should be clear even to the most ardent F-35 hater and tin foil hat sporter that the US was not interested in actually selling F-35s to the UAE, but also did not want to openly say "No" so they employed diplomacy where words and deeds don't match until someone gets the hint and just gives up and buys 80 Rafales.

You're welcome
 
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Sure. Great commerical.

my brother, that is not the way that works! On one hand you said the "USAF says" and then when the USAF said something else that contradicted your world view you said they were not credible and emotionally bursted out that the previously credible people were now "advertising"

you may "prefer" to argue based on merit, but what you prefer and what happens are clearly not the same thing. Anyone can see the double standard you are employing.

anything I want to hear is the truth, anything I don't want to hear is advertising. Very good my friend! a very logical and merit based arguement on display again!
No. You are confusing normal development of the Rafale with the failed development of the F-35. There is no issue with the Rafale's airframe, core avionics or engine, as new capabilities are being developed, they are being added to the Rafale. That's it. But the F-35 program is plagued by development issues relating to core avionics and engine. So it's not even met the basic threshold of being operationally employable against a challenging enemy. B4 is necessary for FOC.

Lets do a little critical thinking test. since you are a man who thinks yes? Like you analyse and don't just believe whatever you hear? You talk about "on paper" yes let us talk about the "paper" and what is on it compared to reality.

are you ready?

On paper the F-35 is not FOC. They build 150 per year. The Rafale is built around 36 per year. at the end of the year there will be around 1000 F-35s.
but remember! the paper says its not in full production, silly! even though its built at a 400 percent higher rate than the Rafale, which mind you has been operational since 2004. why? because the French said it was ready enough, and so in it went. no need for bombs, no need for a JSE, AAMs are enough! 2 years later add the bombs to Rafale with F2-- 25 years later add the SEAD!

Meanwhile in America, the F-35 can't be "fully operational" until the F-35 passes a "Joint simulated environment" That no aircraft before the F-35, and no aircraft after the F-35 will have to pass. The F-22 didn't have to pass JSE, and the F-15EX won't have to pass JSE, both will be "fully operational" without it. HMM!!! but the F-35 does need to pass JSE! Why? Because the paper says so! it can't be fully operational until that! why? because we say so. by any other previous or future standard the F-35 would be considered fully operational years ago and the block 4 Software like F4 upgrade for Rafale would be in the same category; something added later to improve what is already in operation. Rather than saying the F-35 is "in development" for 27 years, while its flying all over the world in operational squadrons and even participating in wars. The Rafale won't have SEAD capability until 2031. 27 years after it was first declared operational. The Australians are not requiring JSE to declare FOC. They will declare their F-35s (which are not block 4) FOC later this year. So what is stopping the Americans?


paperwork says so! Ah of course! While Australia can say "great mate, we are ready!" the Americans must continue to slog through a bunch of self set and arbitrary rules that can't be achieved in any meaningful way. not because the F-35 is terrible, but because the standards are different and higher than any other aircraft in the world, even among other F-35 operators. the F-35 is supposed to be at a ready rate of 80 percent. it fails this. but every US fighter fails this metric as well. one should wonder why. why when no other fighter is ever making 80 percent readiness, they decided to try such a goal with the F-35, the most sophisticated aircraft in the arsenal? Even Gripens can struggle to maintain 80 percent.

The Rafale was fielded in block I with no air to ground capability and declared operational. If the F-35 followed the Rafales example it could have been declared operational in the early 2010s as soon as the AMRAAM capability was cleared. If the F-35 followed the F-22s example it would have been cleared FOC long ago same for Rafale. even you my friend admit the stealth alone gives it a massive advantage from the start.

in summary.

>The F-35 is built at a rate of 150 per year-- but it is not in full rate production

>The F-35 flies in operational squadrons all over the world in real wars-- but it is not operational and still in development "on paper"

>F-35 needs block 4 or else-- but Its the worlds most dominating 5th generation fighter according to the same source

>The F-35 needs to be block 4 to be fully operational, but other F-35 operators are declaring FOC without it.

>27 years later the F35 is not operational, except when it is.

>F-35 must pass a simulator to be FOC, nothing else has to pass such a simulation. but I guess we thought of the idea, so now we have to go through with it to the bitter end?

try and explain how even though 150+ F-35s being built each year, and a new one rolls of the assembly line every 60 hours. the paper says not "full rate production" on an assembly line that dwarves every other fighter. and you pretending to be smart then dutifully parrot this line without actually looking at what is taking place. not realizing that the words and actions don't match.

if you want to talk about "on paper" vs reality. then open your mind up a little bit and look around. If there was some paper that said no F-35 could be declared fully operational until painted pink, you would quickly tell me that the F-35 is not ready until you see a pink one! why? because the paper says so! its not me saying it! but the Americans? Why are you so quick to dismiss some Americans, and then on the other hand say "well the Americans said so, that means its the truth. have you actually stepped back?

"150 aircraft a year by any other name would smell just as sweet" -- William Shakespeare. we would think at one point the Americans would stop going through such silly exercises.

At what point my brother, would you say that what is "on paper" is not what is happening? but not the way you propose.

Think about it for a little bit. Then think about it a little more. and then look again. by the Rafale standard and any other standard F-35 would be declared Fully operational without JSE just like every other airplane in the world. But the Americans have delibrately painted themselves into an impossible position on paper. So what do they do? they ignore the papers while talking about how important all the papers are.

THINK.

yeah, 1 squadron.


Why can't you just admit you were wrong, my friend?

it only hurts your own credibility and continues to make you appear fraudulent and not credible, what is worse is that it is so obvious and you think you are hidden. it is ok. There is a lot to remember, you will make mistakes. I'm sorry egypt is not the slam dunk point you thought it was.