Why 'fifth gen' helps me sleep at night

As one might expect from such an ambitious project there have been delays and massive cost blowouts. In February 2010 US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, announced that $614 million in bonuses would be withheld from the F35's creators, Lockheed Martin, and a delay of a year was confirmed. Perhaps more worrying were rumors of Chinese spying, which may have netted vital technical information, and questions about the F35's actual performance. A simulation by RAND Corporation suggested that superior numbers of Sukhois would over whelm the F35, by denying its ability to re fuel. The Australian Defence Minister at the time, Joel Fitzgibbon was sufficiently concerned that he requested a briefing from the Defence Department. But in the wider aerospace and defence communities it is understood that any large scale project to develop a completely new type will almost by definition have massive technical challenges and run over time and budget. The F35 is now delivering on a range of attributes that would have been considered science fictional until quite recently. It won't be invulnerable, but it will be so far ahead of anything else, that it will give those countries who have it a massive tactical advantage.

Program Manager, New Air Combat Capability Air Vice Marshal Kym Osley is upbeat about the F35's capabilities.

"When the F-35 enters Australian service, its advanced situational awareness, sensor fusion, and stealth will make it the most advanced air combat capability in the region.

"The fact that it has about three times the lines of software code than the next most capable air combat aircraft means that it will also be able to be reprogrammed and updated to match emerging regional capabilities well into the future. Putting it bluntly, in the near future there will only be fifth generation air combat aircraft and potential 'targets'."

It's timely to compare the F35 with the Boomerang. The latter was designed, manufactured and deployed in little over a year. Roughly seven decades later a new fighter aircraft requires a coalition of nations, years of development, and is expected to deliver the goods well into the century. It may also be useful to think of the recently retired F111. It's initial development had a few glitches, primarily because it was such a groundbreaking design, but for almost four decades its incredible speed, huge range and formidable payload made it the ultimate deterrent. With the introduction of the F35 the Air Force is hoping for a vast tactical advantage that will last for many years. And for all the critics who have suggested that the F35 may not be able to deliver, it is worth noting that the program has achieved all the expected benchmarks. The F35 is a bit like that huge, scary looking guy with all the tattoos down the end of the bar – are you seriously going to pick a fight with him?