Chapter Two - The Plane

The F-35 has had a storied life. It was expensive, late, over budget and getting a reputation as an under-performer. From the start it was ambitious in the reach for cutting edge technology. It was designed to fight a sophisticated opponent. Its design included stealthy aspects that increase the chances of undetected penetration into contested airspace. That opponent, specifically the Soviet Union, no longer existed.

Over history, fighter aircraft were intended to dogfight. Dogfight means close in air combat. Close enough to see the other pilot. Close enough to feel being in danger because the other pilot outmaneuvered you. Close enough to feel fear.

When you are fighting at a distance you rely on your electronics to do your fighting for you. In fact, in many cases that I know of the pilot that lost did not even know they were in real danger until they were gone.

The F-35 was not meant to dogfight. It was never meant to be close in. The technology in it was intended to be so advanced that its stand off distance was much too far to even get a visual on the other pilot. Its sensors, radar and use of situational awareness data linked to it allow the pilot to be far from eye to eye contact.

There are several variants to the plane. The differences primarily come down to vertical takeoff support. Vertical takeoff means that you do not need a long stretch of runway to start flying. Examples of when this is necessary include aircraft carriers and places where a runway can't be built. The trade off is horrendous complexity, risk, and fuel consumption.

The technology goes beyond the plane itself. My helmet includes an augmented reality capability that lets me see through the plane in any direction that I look. My visor is overlaid with information about my status and surroundings. The sensors arrayed on the exterior of the plane feed information back to the computers. The computers decide what I need to know and add that information to my visor. When I look down I see what is below me. It is an amazing experience the first time that you use it for real. The simulators provide the same experience but reality has more meaning when your life is on the line.

Early on the plane got a bad rep because of not being a maneuverable in the near as the F-16. The 16 could turn more quickly, had more energy and force in movement. The 16 has a gun and that helped it in a ground attack role as well as in a theoretical dogfight. However, guns need ammo and ammo is heavy. The gun might be effective for a few bursts but when it is empty it is just ballast. Another advantage of the 16 is its large canopy giving the pilot a theater like view of the world around it. When close in this allows the pilot to get an excellent feel of where the other guy is relative to him. This lets a tactical mind figure out where to be next.

While my helmet has all sorts of neat technology in it, that also makes it big. Being big in a cockpit is never an advantage. It is easy to bang into things that should not be banged in to and your head can not turn like it is on a stick.

But, I do not want and do not expect to be close in. Ever. I want to get you from a distance where I am safe and you do not know that you are in danger. My plan is to pluck you out of the sky like a bug and then move on to my next goal.