On Feb. 24, 2012, the U.S. Marine Corps officially welcomed the latest fighter in its arsenal, the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant, to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
The Russian trolls sure are scared of this new fighter and they should be. As of this time the F-35s are doing very good and moving into service with more buyers from other nations than it started with.
@imanaka1977 The Australian Government bought F-18 Super Hornets and are persisting with the JSF.Thats because they know the JSF will be cheaper to operate and cheaper to purchase JSF.The F-18,F-15 have 2 engines as opposed to JSF 1 engine.That alone is a Huge saving.Upfront costs of a new aircraft are always expensive as you need to purchase flight sims ,train the pilots and purchase aircraft.Its expensive to have the BEST!
none of the partner nations have officially ordered it yet, a few hundred million gives that nation billions worth of work and reduces the cost of the aircraft, those nations who are not part of the development teams are paying full price for the jet. for example for Canada the price for one jet right now is 85 million, but for Israel a non development partner the price is closer 200 million a jet.
@bujoun76 Not really mate.The Partner Nations will supply ,parts for the JSF.Take Australia for example,spent 300 million to join the JSF program, as a 2nd tier partner.Australian Industry has secured over 1 billion worth of Contract work(and counting),for a 300 million investment.Japan will just Buy the JSF,and have no part in constructing the fighter.Building he beast wil ensure "ones" Aero Industry something Japan will not share in
@bogdandinpitesti: Hahaha! The F-117 was outdated at this time, now it isn't in Service anymore! Your anti-air system wasn't ready, it wasn't a single radar system tracking the F-117, it was a whole complex! And you still shot down one from many, flying hundreds of raids a night, & couldn't even kill the pilots, hahaha! Your geogeous MIG-29 was downed by F-16's. It was a joke! You wouldn't survive the F-35, buddy.
@imanaka1977 Mate ,lets face it,Japan held out for the F-22,the US would not sell it due to its classified technology.If Japan wanted to develop a 5th Generation Fighter it should have joined the JSF program.Japan missed the Boat(JSF) ,and are now paying the price.Just like a number of Airforces who did not join the JSF program :( So how much is this Radar that will discover Low Observable planes,cost to develop,build and field in numbers? 10 billion?20 Billion? Better to spend on more JSF!
@imanaka1977 F-2 cost 4 times as much as a f-16 for same capability,so Japan could have a an aviation defence industry.FACT! F-18 A/B/C/D structural Airframes cannot even make there desired Airframe life(RAAF F-18A/B as an example).FACT F-18 Super hornet developed off the back of the F-18 "Classic" version took over 40 years to develop up to the Super Hornet. FACT Japan would waste billions of dollars for Machinery/tooling/R and D to build a lesser aircraft. FACT
F18 has a track record. Airplane cost becomes high when purchasing the new body. It is agreement at your opinion. It seems that Japan wants to manufacture under license. It is difficult at F35. ?F15 have been manufactured under license, if it could do when it was F18. My opinion Japan is 。 which should develop a domestic fighter over 15 years from now on. In order to maintain aviation capability of Japan" Japan developed F2 which resembled F16 of the 1990s together [ U.S. ].
@imanaka1977 Mate you dont know anything about Aircraft.The JSF is a 21st Century fighter and attack Aircraft.Its "Dual role.Its 5th Generation,it carries it weapons internally.Less drag on the Aircraft,greater aero dynamics Lower observation. F-15 ia a bigger aircraft,greater radar cross section,carries its weapons externally,causing drag on the aircraft.Not to mention it costs $49k and hour to operate compared to JSF at $18k for a much greater capability.
@investornator As for a Japanese next door and South Korea, F15 is main. China also has many outdated fighters. Although F15 has an old design, probably, it is strong fighter plane which ranks second to F22 even now. Probably, it will be better to think over fighter plane X to F18, even if Japan is not the F15 [ newest ]. F35 is the present condition and there is flying [ little ] even in the U.S.?
@KingCobra6461 of course, they are designed to complement each other..... ppl that argue this are simply ignorant to the facts, lol. F-22 does things a f-35 cant and vica versa. plus the fact that f-35 is a joint program between many allied nations, brings a whole array of advantages. same concept as standardizing say 5.56 or 7.62 nato or the leopard 2 tanks. At the end of the day, ppl that aren't onboard WILL be left in the dust
@investornator The Japanese are the smart ones! Those "partners" have spent millions of dollars assisting in the F-35 program(s) while Japane sat back and waited on making a final decision. Those partners will be charged half a billion bucks if they decide to abandon the JSF program. The Japanese are smart. No pun intended.
@investornator Although the thing with high capability understands F35 by stealth, it is expensive. 10 billion yen per set are carried out. If it is right, I will feel that F18 [ cheaper than it ] etc. is enough. Japan is planning 42 F35. When expenses other than the body are paid, finally 1,500 billion yen will be paid to the U.S.
@investornator Since I am not an engineer, I do not understand. however, the U.S. is confidential -- he hears that confidential technology of Japan has also influenced F22. Japan should be able to also make technically. A radar, a foreign country, Japan, and the U.S. should be inquiring.
@imanaka1977 Why would you buy an aircraft that is 20-30 years old in design? The JSF will "see first,and kill first" it will be cheaper to fly and maintain per flight hour than any 4th gen fighter.Japan should continue with JSF,its the right plane!
@MilitaryAircraft101 Although Japan has F15, you should purchase F15 from now on. F35 is high. Although Japanese fighter plane X wished F22, it was useless. Then, F35 of the next candidate was made the plan.
Thank you for your reply. It is my opinion. Probably F35 will be incomplete, it will be big-ticket, and time for delivery will not do. Probably Japan should cancel F35 and should purchase F15 or F18.
@investornator I am sorry. It was my opinion. A setting Japanese thinks to defense that there is little concern. It is not many Japanese's opinion. Expression of English translation may be getting worse.
@investornator It understands. The situation of neighboring countries must also be considered and equipment must be updated. A strong resemblance to the case where home electronics are bought is born. PC will be half the sum, if it will pass also for one year. Although the cycle of fighter plane does not have early, the best time for buying is difficult. Stealth which is the feature of F35. If the radar which can discover stealth is developed, value will fall.
@imanaka1977 Russian's are making radar's that can "detect" stealth. Here is how it works, it transmits low frequency L band radars. These can partialy detect the F-35, but can't transmit it to the missiles, so they can't fire at it. Also, it is impossible for L band radars to detect anything beyond 10 km. They also transmit S and X band radars, but these are jammed by jammers in the F-35. So, even "stealth detecting" radars can't detect it.
As much as I love the military and the F-35 I gotta say, I really did not like the part on "properly resourcing our Armed Forces" Seriously you have like a military budget that makes up 40% of world defence spending. Get a grip! This is ridiculous.
