[OutsiderFan]

After a rough patch, the F-35 has become a much stronger program of late. The Canadian Air Force choosing the F-35 was a big deal too.

I've very mixed feelings about the F-15EX over more F-35s. On the one hand, it is somewhat cheaper than the F-35, but if stealth is so important these days, how is it even acceptable to have non-stealth airframes? Maybe it makes sense to have a small portion of stealth aircraft at the leading edge of attacks and fill in with cheaper non-stealthy platforms behind, but the F-35 only costs about $10M less than an F-15EX, and 8 F-35s would provide more capability than 10 F-15EXs. It used to be the F-35 cost per flight hour were crazy high, but have now come down. Is Congress and the military really falling on their swords over a $10M per plane difference and not considering the bigger picture of capability per dollar spent? And if you are spending $70M for a plane and you lose $70M if it is shot down, isn't it worth spending $80M to have a far less chance of being shot down than the $70M option?

A big advantage the F-35 has is its ability to control companion drone aircraft in addition to its own fighting capability. The F-15EX can't do this, and I know unmanned drones are cheaper than manned craft, so F-35s can also expand the number of air assets more economically. passing on more F-35s for more F-15EXs doesn't make much sense to me, but whatever.

As for the F-16, it's relatively cheap, the countries buying it aren't wealthy enough to afford 5th generation fighters, and even the F-15EX is too rich for their blood.

[OutsiderFan]

After a rough patch, the F-35 has become a much stronger program of late. The Canadian Air Force choosing the F-35 was a big deal too.

I've very mixed feelings about the F-15EX over more F-35s. On the one hand, it is somewhat cheaper than the F-35, but if stealth is so important these days, how is it even acceptable to have non-stealth airframes? Maybe it makes sense to have a small portion of stealth aircraft at the leading edge of attacks and fill in with cheaper non-stealthy platforms behind, but the F-35 only costs about $10M less than an F-15EX, and 8 F-35s would provide more capability than 10 F-15EXs. It used to be the F-35 cost per flight hour were crazy high, but have now come down. Is Congress and the military really falling on their swords over a $10M per plane difference and not considering the bigger picture of capability per dollar spent? And if you are spending $70M for a plane and you lose $70M if it is shot down, isn't it worth spending $80M to have a far less chance of being shot down than the $70M option?

A big advantage the F-35 has is its ability to control companion drone aircraft in addition to its own fighting capability. The F-15EX can't do this, and I know unmanned drones are cheaper than manned craft, so F-35s can also expand the number of air assets more economically. passing on more F-35s for more F-15EXs doesn't make much sense to me, but whatever.

As for the F-16, it's relatively cheap, the countries buying it aren't wealthy enough to afford 5th generation fighters, and even the F-15EX is too rich for their blood.