Will the F35B ever enter service?

This is the modern version of the Harrier jump jet. It seems to be the kind of thing that might fail for technical or budget reasons - technical because they're using a lift fan design which the Harrier didn't have so may not work.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
This is the modern version of the Harrier jump jet. It seems to be the kind of thing that might fail for technical or budget reasons - technical because they're using a lift fan design which the Harrier didn't have so may not work.

The old Warthog seems to fill the tactical need of a slow ordinance delivery system.

They might need to start a war somewhere to prove the necessity of this new airplane.

When I was at the Air Force Academy the best fly by I ever witness was two A-10's. Their ability to get vertical is just ridiculous, the planes weaved as they pulled up. It was amazing.

Second best fly by was a Mustang flying in low over the stadium. Didn't even hear it until it was directly over head.

The Warthog fills a different role. The F35B is a VTOL - it can fly off of helicopter carriers.

As long as we are going to depend on other countries for our defense, why waste money on such things as new aircraft?

As long as Obama is in office, the military will be of little concern, other than how to cut costs.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
The Warthog fills a different role. The F35B is a VTOL - it can fly off of helicopter carriers.

Technically stovl. Though the short is very short. What I'm dirty about is Australia although a level 2 partner in the JSF program has yet to take delivery of any F 35 variant. Budgetary cuts defense wise seem to be universal. Consequence of diplomacy world free trade initiatives and globalization in general no doubt.

Edit: and not forgetting some very heavy lifting by US forces in multiple theatre's of war which to a large extent has quietened down much of the globe.

Originally posted by kmax87
Technically stovl. Though the short is very short. What I'm dirty about is Australia although a level 2 partner in the JSF program has yet to take delivery of any F 35 variant. Budgetary cuts defense wise seem to be universal. Consequence of diplomacy world free trade initiatives and globalization in general no doubt.

Edit: and not forgetting some very hea ...[text shortened]... ces in multiple theatre's of war which to a large extent has quietened down much of the globe.

I don't think any variant of the F35 is in service yet with anybody. The US is still using F16s and F18s.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I don't think any variant of the F35 is in service yet with anybody. The US is still using F16s and F18s.

The Harrier got very little use by the US military. VTOL seems undervalued by the powers that be.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I don't think any variant of the F35 is in service yet with anybody. The US is still using F16s and F18s.

Explains why we've agreed to buy still more. I had incorrectly assumed that by now the US would have had some in service. Apart from the usual cost overruns it seems an overelliance on computer design and not enough testbed flight hours to work out the kinks were the usual suspects

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I don't think any variant of the F35 is in service yet with anybody. The US is still using F16s and F18s.

I was thinking about what changes military decisions. For example, prior to WWII the great battleships it was thought would rule the seas. The reality was that Carriers and submarines were far more important.

VTOL craft could load and be used from much smaller ships than modern nuclear carriers. As long as you have to carry a numerical force of fighter/bomber jets on board, there is plenty of room for a flight deck.

If massive carriers became vulnerable to either missiles or long range torpedoes, or a hybrid of those devices, smaller carriers might become desirable, making VTOL more of a priority. Often it takes a war to reveal where tactics and strategy are going, and how hardware has to go along.

Originally posted by Eladar
When I was at the Air Force Academy the best fly by I ever witness was two A-10's. Their ability to get vertical is just ridiculous, the planes weaved as they pulled up. It was amazing.

Second best fly by was a Mustang flying in low over the stadium. Didn't even hear it until it was directly over head.

I'm an ex B-52 navigator.
Please tell me when you say you were "at the Air Force Academy" that you mean you were just there watching a show, and not attending as a cadet. The thought of you being a fellow Air Force officer disturbs me.