The US Air Force has come to terms with the failure of the F-35 program, which for a whole decade was the only attempt to replace the main American fighter, the F-16, writes Forbes.
It is noted that against the background of growing competition, the design of the F-35 was significantly complicated, which slowed down development, increased costs and reduced the reliability of the project. As a result, Air Force leaders had to accept the fact that they could not compensate for the time-tested F-16s with the same number of F-35s. And the military already admits that they will have to launch a new program.
“Talks by the US Air Force about the need to create new light fighters are a tacit acknowledgment that the F-35 Lightning II aircraft program has failed,” the article says.
At the same time, as the authors of the materials suggest, even if the American Air Force nevertheless makes such an attempt, there is a high probability that the scenario will repeat itself – and the new fighter will not replace the F-16, but will again turn out to be as expensive, unreliable and mediocre as the F -35.
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