The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—the jet that the Pentagon is counting on to be the stealthy future of its tactical aircraft—is having all sorts of shortcomings. But the most serious may be that the JSF is not, in fact, stealthy in the eyes of a growing number of Russian and Chinese [VHF band] radars.
You simply have to assume that the race between hiding and seeking will ebb and flow. After all, the original stealth light bomber, the F-117, no longer flies while the F-16 and F-15 still do, because the F-117's stealth is no longer up to the task of hiding from radar.
Stealth isn't a silver bullet. But I admit I kind of assumed that the new F-35's stealth advantage would at least last long enough to put the plane into operational squadrons.
But that didn't happen. As the article explains, the plane was supposed to be operational four years ago and the new radars have gotten better faster than we thought. So that killed that assumption about lasting long enough to give us an actual advantage in the field for a while.
The plane isn't useless because of this. We can adapt, too. But it will be more expensive to cope with this situation.
Technology is never the last word. And never assume the enemy is helpless in the face of our technology.
Make sure our military personnel are well trained to make the best use of the technology we have and make sure that our readiness levels are high to fight with what we have. That usually is the last word.
