Originally Posted by 5spot

Everyone needs to take a step back and let the F-35 program develop. A majority of the info "leaked" about the program is just 1- Pure BS or 2-taken out of context. Yes the program is expensive and has suffered set backs along the way but that is pretty standard for new technology and especially something produced on such a massive scale.
Most of the information on the F-35 we would want to know as experienced aviators is talked about in rooms with music playing in the wall's. Not in magazine articles.
The problem with the F-35 is it should have been created in parallel with the F-22 (for timing). The strike fighter shortfall that the services are experiencing is a product of poor planning. No one imagined the utilization rates we experienced in the last 15 years.
For todays war I want A-10's and F-18's/16's supporting me for CAS. For tomorrow's war, no matter where it is or what level of sophistication my enemy has, I want a section of F-35's overhead with 12(or more) SDB-II's a piece and the ability to communicate with me without a word spoken on the net.
Before the crap starts slinging my way for defending the program let me say I do not work for LM, I am an F-18 pilot and have spent a year on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a FAC and have worked in aviation requirements as my staff tour. I was initially a hater but my eyes have been opened. If money is being diverted from everyone's "favorite" platform, we all have one, to support the F-35 than take a look at your services leadership. Not the aircraft. All the services have spent silly amounts of cash on complete BS programs through the years. Most of them not even part of a kill chain. Don't hate the player, hate the game.