> this. cheaper, easier to maintain. easier to launch. don't need billions of $ in spare parts etc > cheaper  holy fucking shit you're retarded. rockets/missiles are some of the most expensive and inefficient methods of delivering ordinance. ballistic missiles like iskander cost somewhere around $1 million and only have a ~2,000 lb payload. an f-35 is reusable and can carry two bombs of the same mass that cost ~$20,000 per shot. also magazine depth is a huge fucking issue with going all in on missile chimpouts, we've gotten zero kalibr kino since eoy 2022 and rarely get to see iskander in action.    f-35 isn't an "absolute beast." it's just a decent plane with decent stealth that's safe enough for export. the only thing special about it are the high production numbers.
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