Mark Twain: "The Death of The F-35 Is Greatly Exaggerated"

'As the offensive part, the training objective is to exploit every opportunity to kill your opponent with all available weapons.'

He said the aircraft performs very well in a dogfight situation. 'The offensive role feels somewhat different from what I am used to with the F-16.

'In the F-16, I had to be more patient than in the F-35, before pointing my nose at my opponent to employ weapons; pointing my nose and employing, before being safely established in the control position, would often lead to a role reversal, where the offensive became the defensive part.' 

Hanche said he is able to point the nose of the F-35 at a higher angle of attack (AOA) than the F-16 and maintain stable flight. 

This is a significant advantage in a dogfight. He said: 'This improved ability to point at my opponent enables me to deliver weapons earlier than I am used to with the F-16, it forces my opponent to react even more defensively, and it gives me the ability to reduce the airspeed quicker than in the F-16.' 

He said: 'I have flown additional sorties where I tried an even more aggressive approach to the control position – more aggressive than I thought possible. It worked just fine. The F-35 sticks on like glue, and it is very difficult for the defender to escape.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3471468/F-35-stealth-jet-REALLY-perform-Gun-fly-right-manoeuvre-test-pilot-reveals-slows-quicker-emergency-brake-car.html#ixzz41gA9TgxD 
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

So goes the F-35 Saga as a Norwegian Pilot measures the F-35 up against his 2,200 hours of flying his vaunted F-16. The test pilot fresh from Arizona's test range notes it has fast (quick) acceleration and quick in the turns. He was able to confound an advisory with an ability to slow down faster than what he previously has flown with the F-16. Dog fighting with the F-35 has a distinct advantage over the F-16.

F-35 Back center, F-16 front enter

Breakingdefense.com photo

The first line of pilots had tested the first batch of F-35 with a limited equipped warfighter. At the time pilots inferred it was not superior to the F-16. 

Therefore, this account dispels any notion the F-35 is inferior in a dogfight with the F-16, after which the F-35 can now implement all its functions as designed, when the "first tests pilots", did not or could not exercise a fully implemented F-35. The early comments may have been correct only within its limited testing constraints, but now and when the fully functional F-35 comes out to play, it plain stomps the competition.