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Tuesday, 23 September 2008 |
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A report by USAF suggests that the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II is the most efficient air-to-air combat cable fighter currently on the market.
The US Air Force (USAF) has claimed that its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jets are at least 400 per cent more effective in air-to-air combat than the next best fighters on the international market.
Using its standard air-to-air engagement modelling and simulation analysis, it compared the fifth-generation F-35 against all advanced fourth-generation fighters in a variety of simulated scenarios finding that it outperformed them significantly.
"The F-35 enjoys a significant combat loss exchange ratio advantage over the current and future air-to-air threats, to include Sukhois," said major general Charles Davis, F-35 programme executive officer.
The analysis suggested that the F-35, which entered low-rate production this year, performed all combat-configured fourth-generation aircraft in top-end speed, loiter, subsonic acceleration and combat ratios during stealth configuration.
Currently the only fifth-generation fighter in active service is the F-22 Raptor developed by Lockheed Martin and Boeing for USAF. |
