"Overall, the first version that will go into service with the Marine will not match the same capabilities as the A-10 Thunderbolt that the F-35 would have to replace."
"If the F-35 were used in night missions, drivers would not be able to see clearly because of software and hardware limitations of the current viewer."
"The so-called Block 2B version, that is going to the Marine next July, will stand on the battlefield for up to thirty minutes, carrying only four weapons. The standard internal configuration will be two short-range bombs and two medium-range missiles. "
According to the Department of Defense's assessment, future versions will have better capabilities, but the tests to deal with (and overcome) are still several.
.jpg)
A detail emerges, not unimportant. According to the DoD, future versions of the F-35 will also have a limited range (estimated in just thirty minutes on the battlefield, while the Warthog reaches 90) due to the current propulsion system.
It should be noted that the Marine F-35 will also be without a cannon. The connection code between the aircraft's mainframe and the 25 mm GAU-22 / A quick-fire cannon has not yet been written. For a "sbadataggine" it was decided to implement the cannon fire software only in the fifth data block available in the 2019.
Translated it means that the F-35, fifth generation fighter also designed for Close Air Support in the twenty-first century, at least until the 2019 will not be able to fire a single shot with its cannon. Weapon for dogfight and infantry support, which from the beginning has raised doubts.
Congress in the coming weeks will evaluate the purchase of additional F-35 Lightning II to be included in the 2016 Defense budget. According to the Government Accountability Office, this could be a costly and risky move due to the many tests that will have to be performed to make future versions of the fighter operational.
The Pentagon should buy 2443 Joint Strike Fighter for a total cost of 400 billion dollars (the whole program will cost 1500 billions of dollars), the 70 percent more than the original projections and for a larger number of aircraft, while the 10 countries allies will buy 721 hunting.
The F-35 will never replace the A-10: that's why
.jpg)
The A-10 was designed with one purpose: to survive. It is heavily armored, with armored plates to protect the vital parts of the aircraft. The pilot is protected by a bullet-proof roof and is surrounded by a kind of armored titanium tank that weighs about 600 kg.
The A-10 is designed to withstand 23 mm and some against 57 mm guns. It can fly with a damaged and partially destroyed wing, a single engine, a single rudder, a single wing. It can fly with the damaged hydraulic system, thanks to mechanical reserve controls.
Its wing tips curved downwards, increase lift at low speeds. The main wheels of the trolley protrude from the gondolas when it is retracted: a further guarantee of survival even when the trolley can not be extended.
The F-35 is a fifth generation fighter. It's all about invisibility and avionics, not comparable with any other existing fighter (F-22 excluded). It was designed to impose air supremacy for the next 50 / 60 years. The problem, however, is precisely this: one wonders, what can being "stealth" be in a close combat, almost melee, where armor and firepower are the main and determining role in missions . The F-35 cell was not designed to withstand the fire of the infantry nor to survive the fire of 23 guns. The JSF was born to be elusive and performant in a dogfight, certainly not for Close Air Support.
.jpg)
The A-10 was designed around the seven-barreled gun GAU-8 Avenger, the most powerful airborne tactical weapon on the planet. It is a GUNling type cannon from 30 mm at two cadences of shooting: 2100 or 4200 strokes per minute and can be brought to the maximum shooting cadence in 0,55 seconds. The ammunition tank carries a maximum of 1350 hits. It is capable of destroying a tank at almost 7 km away.
The F-35A is equipped with a Gatling gun from 25 mm GAU-22 / A with four rotating barrels, brought internally. It is capable of firing three thousand hits per minute, with a range of 180 / 220 hits. Beyond the penetration capacity of the ammunition (inferior to the Avenger), the standard equipment of the F-35A is less than nearly 10 times compared to the A-10. The A-10 is equipped with ten sub-wing pylons and is one of the most heavily armed aircraft of the US Air Force. It can carry almost 7.500 kilos of weapons.
The F-35A can internally carry two air-to-air and two air-to-ground missiles. Six sub-wing pylons. It can carry just over eight thousand kilos of equipment.
Franco Iacch
.jpg)
(photo: Lockheed Martin / Boeing / US DoD)
