Title: If the F-35 fighter jet is so awesome, why is it so hated? | The Times of Israel
Headings: If the F-35 fighter jet is so awesome, why is it so hated?
If the F-35 fighter jet is so awesome, why is it so hated?
Israel’s next stealth aircraft is the future of modern warfare, but the Pentagon’s program costs over $1.5 trillion — and it’s not yet operational
Some harsh criticism
Serious deficiencies
The way of the future
Israel is committed

Content: For instance, instead of purchasing one $110 million dollar F-35 (that number may go down to just $85 million in the future), Israel could instead purchase almost an entire fleet of unmanned aerial drones or multiple fourth-generation fighter jets. Representatives from Lockheed Martin discuss the F-35 stealth fighter jet during a conference at Tel Aviv’s Hilton Hotel on April 3, 2016. ( Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)
Each of these arguments has at least some merit — especially the price tag — yet at a conference focused on the fifth-generation stealth fighter held in Tel Aviv on Sunday, those involved in the project appeared thoroughly baffled by the critical reception the F-35 has received. Those involved in the project tend to speak only about what the F-35 will be — a masterpiece of engineering and computer programming — but not necessarily where the project is today. To them, the stealth fighter is the unparalleled future of not only aeronautics, but of warfare as well. “It’s not just an airplane,” Gary L. North, a retired four-star general and former fighter pilot, told The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the conference. Gary L. North, a former four-star general and current Lockheed Martin executive. ( US Air Force)
The interoperability of the F-35’s electronic systems creates an “internet of the sky,” putting together all the information collected by every aircraft in the area into one complete picture that can then be relayed to ground troops and naval forces, he said. The aircraft’s advanced computer system makes the actual flying “very easy,” and allows the pilot to be “less of a technician and more of a tactician,” North said. Yehoshua “Shiki” Shani, a former IAF general and current CEO of Lockheed Martin-Israel, claimed the criticism was just sour grapes on the part of other companies that competed for the contract to develop the platform, while others chalked it up to misunderstanding or the media’s desire for discord.