![[F-35 Lightning II]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTe7Sk-St7npyqAi1FwsI7360OnBx_tyv_wC2FTx2J8mGs27YS9z8RCB7eI_zx9ws-R5xk7c2ykbKiUAU-bvGONxs0J2oMyqsjnqIm657CUf7Af63DMT5by8FlDMDO-ytu3WCKBhkmi-E/s640/f35testflight.jpg)
Naval Open Source INTelligence: There's something I'm not buying about the F-35 "stealth" joint-strike fighter. Besides the government's dishonest bloviating and the opposition's peacenik whimpering, I mean. I just can't understand a plane meant to dominate aerial combat for five decades in a world of blinding technological change. I do understand the need for air power. And for "interoperability" with our American ally, the free world's only remaining military hope even under Barack Obama. But I don't believe the F-35, after inevitable teething problems and cost increases, will dominate the skies for two generations. The world just isn't like that, and neither is this plane. OK, we're currently flying CF-18s we bought in 1980 over destroyers we bought in 1972. And today's CF-18 is not the plane that began entering service in 1982; rather, the same reliable airframe has seen constant "avionics" and weapons upgrades. But the F-35 won't work that way for two main reasons. Source: Naval Open Source INTelligence
