Posted on: 2012-04-04 21:06:42.000
So Canada is looking to replace it's current stock of FA-18s with a newer fighter. They have chosen the Lockeed F-35A as it's replacement, which has caused no small bit of howling from various factions within Canada.
The concerns are valid.
The Joint Strike Fighter program that produced the F-35 Lightning II was from the start an attempt to meet an impossible amount of demands: stealth, air-superiority, first rate avionice, carrier capable, STOVL, and somehow find enough time to be cheap.
So it ended up being all of those things and none of those things at the same time.
http://www.ausairpower.net/jsf.htmlBasically, it's the worlds greatest stealth attack aircraft, so long as you don't want to carry too many munitions and don't wade too far into another significant Power's aerial defense.
And, so help you if you actually encounter another fighter that wasn't refit since the Cold War....