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Dunford Mulls F-35B IOC Decision; 4 Bs Take Out 9 Attackers « Breaking Defense – Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

WASHINGTON: During the Marine’s recent operational readiness test of the F-35B, four of the Marine aircraft went up against nine enemy aircraft. “It went very poorly for the bad guys,” Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy commandant for aviation, told me this afternoon. Davis provided few details, saying they were classified, He did say that the…

WASHINGTON: During the Marine’s recent operational readiness test of the F-35B, four of the Marine aircraft went up against nine enemy aircraft.

“It went very poorly for the bad guys,” Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy commandant for aviation, told me this afternoon. Davis provided few details, saying they were classified, He did say that the F-35s faced a threat that “we have never put an F-16 or a Harrier against.” The F-35Bs, he said, did a “great job.”

I asked Davis about the recent news that the F-35A did not fare that well in dogfight conditions against an F-16. “I love the F-16. It was a great airplane. Still is pretty good, but i would not want to be in a fight against an F-35.”

via Dunford Mulls F-35B IOC Decision; 4 Bs Take Out 9 Attackers « Breaking Defense – Defense industry news, analysis and commentary.

I expect the IOC announcement any day now.

There are some issues left, but overall, the program has settled down quite a bit in the last two years. Yes, the planes are way too expensive.

With all the handwringing in the press about the F-35 being a poor dogfighter, the thing to remember is that the F-35 is a bomber that handles air to air pretty well, not a fighter that also hauls bombs.

There are countries with significant air to air capability. However, the real challenge isn’t sending our fighters against their fighters. It’s sending our attack aircraft against their integrated air defense systems. Even with extensive jamming support, legacy fighters like the F-16 would struggle to operate effectively in the face of S-300 and S-400 type surface to air missile systems.

The stealth characteristics of the F-35 improve the odds of successfully rolling back such systems. It’s that capability to strip away area denial systems that justifies the entire JSF program.

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  1. KragCulloden

    Lt Gen Davis’ comments in that article are a fine example of why Marine Air needs a thorough purging. They are going to destroy the Corps through fiscal insanity.

    Their detachment from reality is shocking, and especially obnoxious in Officers of Marines. The revelation about Amos does make me wonder anymore how many of these Marine Air officers are not really Marines either – at least that would explain the outright lieing and blatant stupidity displayed by so many of them connected to the Osprey and JSF programs.

    That’s not too say we don’t have our share of stupid organically, but Marine Air seems to gone off the rails entirely in the last two decades. They’ve started talking and acting like non-Marines, obsessed with the same tech fetish that has destroyed the warrior culture in some other services.

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  2. Casey Tompkins

    ….And what does this have to do with the F-35?

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  3. Casey Tompkins

    Brad, while reading your comment about a fighter/bomber vs. a bomber/fighter, I thought of the P-38 Lightning. Then a light -excuse the pun- when on. 🙂

    As I recall, the Jug* was said to be a terrible dog-fighter in 1943; easy meat for the Germans. Jokes about the Rhino included the claim the plane was proof that -given enough thrust- even a brick could fly.

    Oddly enough, both planes turned out to be deadly weapons. Go figure.

    *Apparently the Brits thought “Jug” was a reference to the plane’s similarity to a milk jug. Not a compliment. 🙂

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  4. KragCulloden

    RE: ….And what does this have to do with the F-35?

    Well, let’s see. The article is about the Marine Corps IOC date for the F-35B. The article talks about a mock, simulated BVR “fight” of the F-35B vs some mystery aircraft. The article extensively quotes Lt Gen Davis, Marine Air’s top advisor to the Commandant. FYI, the F-35B is the Marine Corps version of the JSF build to satisfy Marine Air’s demand for a stealthy STOVL close air support aircraft.

    If still unclear, search numerous references for Marine Air officers charged with falsifying records for the V-22 Osprey; the near-crippling effects of STOVL design requirements on the non-STOVL JSF variants for the other two services; the programmatic disaster that is the JSF in general; the utter lack of common sense in buying a high-maintenance stealth aircraft for use from unimproved forward expeditionary airfields to provide close air support; similar stupidiity in paying for stealth that is immediately rendered ineffective by hanging an external gunpod and the external ordance that is required for effective CAS – the very reason for the aircraft to be in Marine Air inventory; the extreme vulnerability to catastrophic damage in both the V-22 and JSF from even simple slug throwers caused directly by the specific requirements Marine Air demanded in the vehicles; the money pit that Marine Air has turned into with development, procurement, and maintenance of these airframes at the same time the ground forces need not only to rebuild wartime losses and damage, but also to upgrade its woefully antiquated amphibious vehicle fleet and to a lesser degree LAV and M1 fleets….

    For starters.

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