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So what you're saying is, the aircraft is being perfectly implemented into its role and as such blue side is enjoying success due to this. And I'd like to see where you get information on RedFor's support options and whether they were out numbered as Red Flag consists of multiple range of missions and scinarios. And if you ask me a 20:1 ratio in a high threat environment is rather overwhelming.

Cough up some proofs, friend.

F-35s score upwards of 20 to 1 kill ratios at Red Flag in increased high threat environments.

AH-1S manual - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4xitrrBUDsYaXdDWUNCSFA2aHc/view?usp=sharing AH-64D flight manual - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4xitrrBUDsYUmhCZGNGd3JVM3M/view?usp=sharing

Really all people like you and I can do is wait and see hoping that the best outcome is in our favor. The problem with drones is that they lack the situational awareness of an actual pilot since flying them is somewhat equal to trying to fly a plane while only being able to see through an MFD I'll agree that the F-35 isn't that prettiest platform, but it's started to grow on me, hell I used to completely hate the thing and would recite everything Piere Spray would say on RT lol.

I'll have to say it was extremely foolish for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm to retire their entire Harrier fleet without a single replacement, especially in the case of the RN who have absolutely no replacement until god knows when they fully get F-35s, on top of that we're getting our new QE supercarrier which will have no planes on it. The thing about the F-15 and F-16 is that in the F-16 was designed from the offset to have CAS capability and the F-15E is fully capable of it. The US would be more capable of diverting strength from other units to cover the retirement of an older aircraft than that of other smaller nations. I used to agree with the jack of all trades master of none saying but modern multi-role aircraft have proven to be more capable than single role aircraft, in the case of the F-15E for example completely retains its air to air capabilities but with the added capability of being a very competent CAS, recon, SEAD and such with its versatility and modern systems, not all aircraft can be as competent as it entirely relies on how much the original design allows for upgrades, in the case of the A-10 we are extremely limited in how much we can upgrade it anymore. Every new plane receives a large amount of doubt and dislike from the flyers of the previous generation, the same amount of doubt and controversy was made about the F-117, and B-2 especially for some examples. F-35 program is doing a lot better than people would give credit for, it's actually relatively cheap for what it's accomplishing at that, I think it'll dispell with the master of none saying as unlike other aircraft before it, it is actually designed to handle these missions much like newer 4th gen multi-role platforms are achieving such as the Rafale and Gripen.

Fair enough, I can't disagree with your reasoning, I've just run across too many people who want to keep something for the reason of simply liking it, and later it's paid for dearly.

I'm not going to argue the capabilities of old versus new aircraft when all that is offered on your part is nostalgia and hyperbole, with all due respect. It's almost like once we hit the fourth generation of aircraft all regard for innovation has just disappeared, I suppose you think that the replacement of the F-4 phantom with the F-15 was also just a money making scheme for top the brass of Aerospace companies? Whether you like it or not, the F-35 is highly capable and will one day replace many of the aircraft we currently have, one day you'll also see the Blue Angels flying them. You can't just keep adding crap old equipment, it's a lot less versatile and capable than just a brand new aircraft. Any aircraft cannon, let alone the overrated GAU-8 Avenger, such as a Vulcan will put the fear of fukkit into any poor bastard on the receiving end. Just because something worked in the past and worked against some third world insurgents doesn't mean it will work on the modern battlefield, S-300/400 SAMs would have a field day against Harriers, F-15s, F-16s, A-10s etc etc Don't get me wrong, I love all the old birds, but it does them no service to keep them in service long past their shelf life with the main reason being "Well we like it"

Kuznetsov utilizes specifically a MiG-29K to act as a tanker for the aircraft on mission and also acts as a jamming aircraft if memory serves. On a side note, it's very unfortunate that Kuznetsov managed to lose two aircraft within the space of three weeks, both during mission recovery, valuable lessons to be learned for sure.

Boeing was also awarded to pull F-18 legacy hornets back from the grave when they're starting to drop out of the sky at an alarming rate no? It's unwise and unsafe and uneconomical to keep pushing these old airframes.

Just get rid of it already, it's old and out-dated and will fall apart if we enter a conventional conflict where we shoot at anything more than some insurgents. I'd like to see it retain its iconic nature in retirement instead of watching them fall out of the sky because some people like having them. A-10 is actually more vulnerable in a hostile AAA/SAM environment because it's slow and low and those things are easy to hit, plus they don't operate in AAA/SAM environments as CAS is used in low-threat. It does not have any higher survivability because it's NOT a titanium aircraft the only titanium part is where the pilot sits (To which the F-35 actually has a titanium composite airframe). We don't need a 30mm cannon anymore because modern tanks can now shrug it off and a 20mm or 25mm can do just fine against any soft skin targets and on top of that the only reason we needed a low and slow glorified Stuka was because when the A-10 was designed we didn't have the electronics and sensors we have today to easily detect targets on the ground and we had to solely rely on the Mk1 eyeball, not to say eyeball identification is out, but it's also lead to a lot of mistakes we can now avoid.