The Pentagon has made a big deal about punishing Turkey by expelling them from the F-35 program, and costing them the opportunity to buy very, very expensive US-made warplanes.
Officials from Russia’s Rostec say they’d be keen to remind Turkey that they also make some really advanced fighter jets of their own, and that Turkey is free to buy Su-35 jets if they can’t buy the F-35.
The Su-35 isn’t a stealth fighter, like the F-35, but it also costs less than half as much and is still a very advanced multi-role jet in its own right. It isn’t really competing with the F-35 either since the US is refusing to sell those to them anymore.
The Su-35 has been used as an escort by Russia in Syria, and has become an increasingly popular export for Russia. Egypt announced back in March that they intend to buy over two dozen such planes, a move that similarly led the US to threaten sanctions.
I don’t understand stealth. To me it means a smaller radar footprint in some circumstances, so its capability to remain hidden depends on the capabilities of the opponent. For a plane which is supposed to last a generation that is not a sales argument. Radars evolve too.
In fact, buying a plane to last a generation is stupid in a fast changing environment. It’s bound to become an expensive fifth wheel.
It’s like building a huge coal plant for 50 years and when it’s finally
ready you find coal is being discarded and you still have 45 years to
go.
Don’t buy all-in-one solutions.
Same with professional over-the-hill athletes who have outlived their productive years at the plate/mound, on the court, or on the field.
The S-400 can detect the stealth F-22, B2, F-117.
The S-500, in production, can detect the F-35……and hypersonic speed.
So much for stealth.
Hey, maybe US manufacturing could manage to produce a washing machine without a computer in it….I’d buy one !
So true Dave. When a chip in the board fails, you have to replace the whole circuit board. And that runs more than half the cost of the machine. Who needs all those settings anyway?
The marketing department ?
If an F-35 can’t take off because of rain or the fuel’s too hot, and a 100 year-old WWI bi-plane can take off, then on the day the bi-plane is the superior aircraft.
The US would have been wiser to commission three new aircraft designs instead of one plane that has three roles. They’d now have three able aircraft which lots of countries might buy, and they’d have lots of money left.