© US Air Force, Airman 1st Class Isaac Johnson
Business Insider: F-35s in Japan are still losing dogfights to F-15s sometimes — here's why
* F-35s dogfighting against Cold War-era F-15 fighter jets still sometimes lose, according to a new report.
* The F-35 has been plagued by reports that it can't dogfight for years, but experts say that's not really the purpose of the new jet.
* Instead, F-35s stealth features mean they'll do most of their fighting unseen, and that something has gone wrong if they forfeit their stealth advantage by fighting up close.
* But as F-35 software, tactics, and pilots develop, the jet may soon start to beat older planes designed specifically to kill anything that flies.
The most expensive weapons system in history, the US's F-35 Lightning II, is still sometimes losing to the 1970s F-15 in dogfights during training scenarios in Japan.
US Air Force F-15 pilot Capt. Brock McGehee, when asked by Defense News if the F-35s at Kadena Air Force base in Japan still sometimes lost to the Cold War-era fighters, said "I mean, sometimes."
The F-35 has long been plagued by reports of that it can't dogfight as well as older, much cheaper jets, despite being in development for nearly two decades and claiming to revolutionize air combat.
Read more ....
Update #1: How is the F-35 improving its dogfighting skills in Japan? (Defense News)
Update #2: F-35 Still Loses Dogfights Against Cold War-Era F-15s in Exercises (Sputnik)
WNU Editor: The argument that is being used is that "dogfighting" is now dead. Enemy aircraft will be destroyed by missiles long before they can encounter each other face to face. Ok .... but that is making one massive assuption that the enemy will be playing that type of game.
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