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by mikkupikku
98 days ago
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My read is that the "loyal wingman" thing is a ploy to get around all the pilots / expilots in Air Force brass who might otherwise gatekeep anything they think is a threat to the careers of human pilots. These people want the Air Force to be about hotshots flying planes; this is part of the reason the US spun off the space stuff, because Air Force brass is institutionally incapable of taking anything other than manned flight seriously. |
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Ultimately a carrier strike group could achieve many of the missions a F35 can through cruise missiles, ballistic missiles etc.
What an F35 provides is a sensory platform deep into enemy airspace.
But with the F35 being very expensive, and required to stay silent in RF to maintain stealth it's further desirable to have a loyal wingman out there.
The whole thing becomes one large sensor network with th added weapons.
It makes most sense in a near adversary situation and as it stands that particular scenario is why the F22 is not exported.