sancho
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Thats what they dont get.. from the raptor kills.. to the Chinese sub surfacing near the fleet "undetected".
The US military is underplayed what it has.. There is nothing out there, that will see or beat the raptor.
I disagree Oscar, it's not like the US is the only country in the world that is developing high class weapon systems, they just SPEND the highest ammount of money to develop them and that's why we see more and more modern weapons in their military, but not necessarily the best.
That is one reason why US older Teen series are still considered to be deadly machines, because they will be constantly upgraded, unlike Russian fighter designs for example. But even these upgraded Teens don't hold their own against modern 4.5 gen fighters like the Eurocanards, or modern Flankers and now think about large numbers of stealth fighters with similar advantages in stealth, but possibly better performance. As soon as the stealth advantage is not that clear anymore the performance of the fighters will be important again and that's where the US might get problems with their F35s.
Our US friend tries to downplay the exercises against Rafale and EF, but the reality is, that the results were just one of a chain of similar results against nearly all US fighters. EF and Rafale proved to be superior in Air combats and the F22 exercises showed, how maneuverable they are in close combats.
There is no doubt that the F22 will remain superior, but why? Because of it's advantages in BVR ranges, if any enemy gets into close combat range, it could be even in disadvantage and since modern 4.5 gen fighters often come with features the F22 doesn't have (canards, 3D TVC, high maneuverable IR missiles, HMS), it's not surprising that the US now wants to upgrade the F22 in this regard and we are talking about the most maneuverable US fighter here!
In terms of technology Israelis, Europeans and even Russians offers several products that are superior as well, but they can't spend as much money as the US, one reason why Europeans simply joint F35s instead of developing an own one and some of them already regret it.
Btw, the Chinese subs wasn't the only one that were able to follow US carriers in close distance undetected, which also shows how technology is changing things, because AIP propulsion for example increases the capability even for smaller subs by far.