i keep telling people. you can have the highest quality, best fighter jets in the universe, but if the people flying them have no idea what they're doing, you might as well be flying a helicopter through a SAM zone.
You're entirely correct, but so far, the only evidence is a shitty AI photo, and an Iranian claim with no other photo or video evidence, and weirdly no word about any captured pilots.
If an F-35 were shot down, it would have been done so with either:
1) Infra-red guided anti-air (Azaraksh)
2) Radar-guided
3) AA guns
If 1, it would have had to be within visual range or line-of-sight ALMOST beyond visual range. If 2, it could have been beyond-visual-range but even when the stealth target is detected the ability to engage it is fractional, so even then it would likely have been very close to the radar and launcher. 3 would have been both extremely close range within visual range AND at very low altitude.
In any case, the crash would have likely landed in Iran and the pilots either would have perished or been captured.
If not, even then they would have landed in like Iraq or Syria. Hypothetically maybe they ejected/crashed in Azerbaijan or the Kurds of Syria and Iraq trying some weird solidarity but I feel like it would have made news.
Where are the crash photos and where are the bodies?
More suspect yet, is if an F-35 has gone down then where are the F-16s and F-15s? If they brought down a stealth fighter you think they would have brought down a non-stealth 4th gen fighter, right? Kinda suspect they ONLY got the ones that are harder to get.
