Comment on Warthog Prey by zulumike
Yes! The 35 only has 180 rounds in its gun, while the Hog has 1600! And don't expect the 35 to take the damage a Warthog can either; they ran a test and one AK-47 round can take down an F-35, while the A-10 can soak up SAMs even!
One AK-47 round into where exactly? The pilot's head? And the A-10 could never take a direct SAM hit, although it flies so low that it's below the minimum engagement altitude of many SAMs. But I suppose they are meant for different roles; the A-10 is more designed for close air support/ground attack while the F-35 is more of a fighter-bomber.
Through the fuel tank/engine (it's all the same since the fuel tanks are wrapped around the engine). And the A-10 has taken SAM hits; there's a picture out there of one with its wing blasted to hell, and another with the starboard engine hit. Maybe not a direct hit, but pretty damn close. And you're right about the roles, but the Air Force brass is trying to force the 35 into the A-10s role, which doesn't work out
I honestly can't see any A-10 pilots wanting to fly the F-35. I'd wager the A-10 could win in a dogfight between the two.
Same here. The only thing the F-35 would have going for it is its missiles and radar, but if the A-10 could sneak up on them, it'd be a shooting gallery, since the A-10 is very maneuverable (it has to be to avoid all that surface fire) while the F-35 is a turkey with very high drag thanks to the huge intakes, and severely under armored thanks to the bulky vertical lift system (they actually had to strip most of its armor to accommodate the fan) No contest.
People should really stop obsessing about VTOL. All it does is make for a less-capable aircraft. The Harrier is the only VTOL aircraft that really works.