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OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS
703-413-1100 x5117
and 310-451-6913
media@rand.org


Statement Regarding Media Coverage of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

Andrew Hoehn, Director of RAND Project Air Force, made the following statement today:

“Recently, articles have appeared in the Australian press with assertions regarding a war game in which analysts from the RAND Corporation were involved. Those reports are not accurate. RAND did not present any analysis at the war game relating to the performance of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, nor did the game attempt detailed adjudication of air-to-air combat. Neither the game nor the assessments by RAND in support of the game undertook any comparison of the fighting qualities of particular fighter aircraft.”

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ORIGINAL: thewood1

There was a long debate here about AA Missiles a while back. I noted this comment in the presentation:

"Since the advent of BVR missiles, 588
air-to-air kills have been recorded by
BVR-equipped forces
–
24 have been BVR*"

I think this shows that the original Command low pk for BVR is not far off.

To me, the whole point of that article is that we will be fighting someone else's turf. And we will not have every available asset. One thing that seemed to get very little mention was Taiwan's air force. I know it doesn't have the capabilities of the USAF/USN, but it is no slouch. I also noted they assume no navy coverage for the SAM and fighter forces. Not sure why.

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have to wonder whether this is more about ROE than actual performance or capability. Would these numbers hold during an actual all out knock down drag out...?

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The ROEs in place for the air campaign over North Vietnam included restrictions on

where aircraft could fly, what conditions aircraft could attack enemy forces (when they

were considered hostile), and what degree of force could be used both in self-defense and

attack.3 Another part of the ROEs restricted pilots from attacking certain types of targets

that were off limits; some of these were: enemy airfields, SAM sites, power plants, naval

craft in some areas, a 30 mile area around Hanoi, and a 10 mile area around Haiphong.4

The inability to attack certain targets made it difficult to stop the flow of men and material

into South Vietnam, and the requirements to spare North Vietnamese civilians limited the

use of certain types of munitions, such as B-52s and napalm. Until early 1967, in many

instances U.S. pilots were not allowed to engage enemy fighters unless they themselves

had been attacked first.

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the majority of BVR klls appear to be non maneuvering aircraft with limited ECM and RWR.