So, what should replace the F-35?

[sir pball]

11. Try again, the Russians are kicking our asses

Especially with the Sukhoi Su-30MKI and forthcoming MiG-35 development of the -29; the Russians Kept It Simple, Stupid - instead of trying to put in every whiz-bang brand-new super-duper-ultra-tech bell and whistle they just took some already very capable platforms (the Su-27 and Mig-29 are quite the equals of the 15/16/18s) and loaded them up with state of the art avionics and weapons systems to come up with relatively inexpensive, production-ready "4++" generation fighters that can run circles around our 4g birds and hold their own in visual fights with even -22s. Sure, BVR combat the stealth aircraft are gonna kick ass but last time we took that line of thinking we ended up with TOPGUN. We could (and probably should have) probably do some serious upgrades on our existing aircraft to maintain parity, but at this point, for better or worse, we've sunk so much into the 22/35 programs that it's likely cheaper to just finish them than restart F15 production with the avionics and radar systems from the 22s...good money after bad.

Doesn't help that India is pouring resources into Russian fighter development, and that the Russkies aren't overly particular about who they sell their hardware to (the Norks have 50 or so, yes we would win in the end but the loss rate wouldn't be pretty).