The F-35 fighter is undoubtedly the best-selling fighter in the world at the moment. More than 1,000 aircraft were sold, and the total number of orders was more than 3,000 orders in 17 countries around the world.
However, the evaluation of the F-35 series has been mixed, and even in the United States, which developed the F-35 series, many people consider the F-35 to be a "failure".
So, what exactly is the performance of the F-35, and if it is really a "failure", how can it become the best-selling product in the world?
F-35 fighter
The development of the F-35 fighter originated from a program in the United States, the United States Joint Strike Fighter Program, also known as the JSF program.
The content of this plan is very simple, hoping to develop and design a universal fighter that can replace the fighters of all branches of the United States.
In addition to this, this fighter has an indispensable feature - cheapness. With the advancement of technology, the cost of modern fighters is constantly rising, and even the United States finds it somewhat unaffordable.
The F-35 fighter was developed to change that.
Therefore, the F-35 fighter was extremely clearly positioned at the beginning of the design. It must have a wide range of uses, and it must not lag behind in the performance of a new-age fighter, and at the same time it must be affordable for other countries.
Against this background, at the end of 1996, the program was officially launched, and its first successful flight took place at the end of 2006.
In order to meet the needs of the sea, land and air, the F-35 fighter has three models: A, B and C.
Among them, the F-35A is a model used by the U.S. Air Force and is matched with the F-22 Raptor fighter, the F-35B is a model used by the U.S. Marine Corps and is a vertical take-off and landing type, and the F-35C is a carrier-based model adopted by the U.S. Navy.
Up to now, more than 1,000 F-35 series fighters have been delivered to the ordering countries, and more than 2,000 orders have not yet been delivered. It can quite be said that it is the best-selling product of modern fighters.
Cooperating countries
The F-35 fighter was developed by Lockheed Martin, an American aviation technology company, but it was not funded by the United States alone. Rather, it is led by the United States, with other U.S. allies co-investing.
At the same time, each country is divided into tiers according to the amount of funding provided, and the order in which each participating country obtains F-35 fighters is ranked according to this level.
For example, of the eight countries that have invested in the United States, the United Kingdom has the highest funding of $2.5 billion for first-tier partners, followed by Italy and the Netherlands, with $1 billion and $800 million respectively for second-tier partners, and the remaining countries for third-tier partners.
In addition to these partnership countries, two other countries, Israel and Singapore, are members of security cooperation. The rest of the countries are pure buyers, such as Japan, South Korea, etc.
As a fifth-generation fighter, the combat power of the F-35 naturally does not need to be talked about. Even if it was criticized by many people at the beginning, it is a piece of sweetness for countries that do not have fifth-generation fighters, which can greatly improve national defense strength.
But in addition to simply improving combat power, the purchase of the F-35 also represents a political orientation to some extent. All countries that have purchased the F-35 at the moment, with the exception of NATO members, are allies of the United States.
Of course, there are also more "rebellious" countries among them. Turkey, which initially planned to order 100 F-35A fighters from the United States, is one of the NATO members involved in the JSF program.
But while waiting for the delivery of fighters, Turkey intends to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia.
Naturally, there is no need to say much about the relationship between the United States and Russia. Seeing Turkey's approach, the United States obviously couldn't sit still, and kicked Turkey out of this plan after failing to dissuade it, and the original F-35A fighters were naturally not delivered, but were bought by the United States at its own expense.
It can be seen from this incident that buying a fighter plane is not only about fighting and killing, but also about human feelings.
F-35 advantages and contrasts
Regardless of the purpose of buying the fighter, the F-35 fighter jet has finally reached a staggering number in terms of sales. So, how does the F-35 perform and what are the advantages over other fighters?
Taking the F-35A as an example, the F-35A fuselage is 15.67 meters long, the fuselage height is 4.33 meters, the wingspan is 10.7 meters, the maximum flight speed is Mach 1.6, and the combat radius is 1081 kilometers.
The power system used in the F-35A is a 1x Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburner turbofan engine, which is based on the core and main structure of the F119 engine, which can be said to be the most advanced engine in the world today.
One of the best things about the F-35 is its stealth capabilities. Thanks to the technology and experience of the F-22, the calculation of the radar reflection area of the F-35 adopts the calculation simulation of the whole aircraft, and the weapon adopts the method of internal attachment to reduce the radar reflection area.
This design makes the F-35 fighter's stealth ability better than that of the F-22, reducing the detected distance, reducing the enemy's reaction time, and increasing the probability of incoming missiles missing the target. It is also easy to gain a greater advantage in confrontation.
In addition to stealth capabilities, the F-35's avionics system should not be underestimated.
The electro-optical distributed aperture system EODAS provides a 360-degree surround view field of view and is displayed directly on the mask worn by the pilot, rather than a traditional flat panel display.
The optical-electronic sighting system EOTS has a wide range of functions. It can not only detect and identify targets outside the defense zone, but also has the capabilities of automatic tracking, infrared search, laser indication and so on.
The AN/APG-81 active phased array radar has a detection range nearly three times that of existing radars and can also draw high-resolution SAR images.
The F-35's electronic warfare system AN/ASQ-239 can work in conjunction with other parts of the aircraft, such as interfering with active phased array radars to jam enemy radars.
Not only that, but the ASQ-239 can also be combined with additional F-35 fighters via tactical data link.
Looking at these alone, although the F-35 fighter can also be called a fifth-generation fighter, it can only be said to have its own advantages and disadvantages compared with the American F-22 Raptor fighter, and there are many places that are not as good as the F-22, not to mention compared with the mainland's J-20.
And this is also the most criticized part of the F-35 fighter at the beginning, in addition to the instability shown by various accidents.
After all, as a new generation of fighters, not to mention beating the old-timers in all directions, it should at least be in an advantageous position. has more advanced technology, and is still in the middle of the previous generation of fighters, which can't help but disappoint.
In fact, the F-35 fighter's information integration capabilities, stealth capabilities, and air-to-ground combat capabilities are better than those of the F-22 fighter, and it is not accurate to simply compare the F-35 fighter with the F-22. Although the two are both fifth-generation fighters, they are not exactly on the same track.
At the beginning of the design, the F-35 fighter was positioned as a low-cost fighter for joint operations. The F-35 clearly did a good job in these areas.
Compared with the expensive and expensive F-22 Raptor fighter jet, the F-35 fighter really achieves low cost and up to standard performance.
The relatively low cost and terrifying production capacity allow the F-35 fighter to maximize its advantages in future wars.
Therefore, compared with individual equipment, the F-35 fighter will look weak.
If you take it in a more extreme way, you can even think of the F-22 fighter as winning by quality, while the F-35 fighter is winning by quantity.
The F-35A, which is used by the US Air Force, is also used as an auxiliary model for the F-22 fighter, and for this reason.
For the mainland, the same is true for comparing the J-20 and F-35. The J-20's target American fighter should be the F-22. The mainland's J-20 already has an advantage.
What really wants to be compared with the F-35 is the J-35 of the mainland. In order to surpass the F-35, in addition to the pure performance advantage, it is also necessary for the mainland to produce a certain number of fighters. In this respect, the mainland has never disappointed.
In addition to this, despite the many problems that the F-35 has had in the past, we cannot take this lightly. After all, the F-22 in the United States has been discontinued, and the F-35 must be the main force in the future, if it is really as unbearable as the American media said, and the sales will not be so high, the US military will not buy so many F-35s.
We cannot be arrogant, and we need not be arrogant. Only by facing up to the gap can we catch up and truly surpass it.
Resources
[1] The US Air Force has decided to buy F-35 fighters produced for Turkey
[2] F-35 "Lightning II."