Originally Posted by BDGERJMN

A bit of devil's advocate here but game changing in what sense? Are we saying that China/Russia wouldn't be developing 5th and 6th Gen FTRs if we had bought and built F-22/F-35 sooner? Or game changing in the sense of how we plan to fight? Either way the plans are a function to some extent of the forces available to achieve the objectives of the plan...perhaps we could have planned a bit earlier/often but the end result is the same absent one or a few of those plans going into action. My point is the 10 yr or so delay in buying F-35 really matters not, long term other than the cost associated with it. The gaps created by the delay, specifically the Strike/Fighter shortfall within the USN/USMC and I'm sure the USAF as well, are really a function of increased(unplanned) usage over the past 13 yrs. Sure we were going to be short aircraft here and there, but not in the same numbers we're seeing now. Couple that with the budget arguments above and well, there you have it. I'm just not sold that buying it earlier and often would have done much to change the game...though it would have given us a lot of shiny pennies on the flight line.