I think that US did a mistake by developping both of them.
F22 is overspecified vs any threat and quite expensive
F35 is too light
Making two programs means double R&D cost.40 B$ in R&D is equivalent to 300 F22.
Should US should have make an intermediate fighter between F22 and F35?
I mean a twin engine about 2*10/11 tons trust with stealthiness and supercruise of F22 (but with a reduced supercruise speed to mach 1,4) and polyvalent as F35 with bigger internal bays able to handle 2 AM9x more in a second bay like F22 OR two more AMRAAM .
US tried to replicate F15/F16 combination.
In the sixties US relied on F4 for all services: a medium/heavy polyvalent fighter.
What is your thinking about that? |