Key Points and Summary – The F-35 remains indispensable because it fills missions no other U.S. platform can combine at scale: stealthy multirole strike, sensing, electronic warfare, and allied interoperability.
-Sixth-gen F-47 and naval F/A-XX will be exquisite, low-density air-superiority assets; B-21 and B-2 are scarce strategic bombers.
-By contrast, the F-35’s A/B/C variants are mass-produced, network allies, and act as data “quarterbacks” for joint forces and loyal wingmen.
-Canceling or curtailing it would shrink combat mass, readiness, and coalition cohesion.
-The F-35 modernizes rapidly via software, sensors, and weapons, ensuring it complements—not competes with—future systems while remaining the backbone of Western airpower for decades.
Why the F-35 Is Irreplaceable
The F-35 offers a unique blend of capabilities that other aircraft cannot match.
There are numerous bomber and fighter projects currently in operation and development. It can be confusing—the F-35 and F-22, both fifth-generation stealth fighters, are in service. In the F-35’s case, several friends and close allies of the United States from around the globe operate that aircraft.
Other fighters, such as the sixth-generation F-47, an air superiority fighter for the US Air Force, and the upcoming F/A-XX, a navalized fighter for the US Navy, are about to come into service, which will replace the current fleet of F/A-18 Super Hornets. These sixth-generation aircraft, alongside the F-35, make up the backbone of the US Navy’s air power.
Bombers Compliment Fighters
There are bombers too, of several vintages: the in-service B-2 Spirit bomber, the world’s first stealth bomber, and what is essentially a follow-up to that bomber, the B-21 Raider, named after the Doolittle Raiders of Second World War fame.
F-35 Fights to Keep Its Place
What then is the F-35’s role within this ecosystem? Given the technological and performance advantages that several of the existing and upcoming platforms offer, would it be wise to continue building and putting F-35s into service?
Why not just divest them, freeing up funds for other, newer platforms? Right now, and likely well into the future, the F-35 is irreplaceable.
The F-35’s place within the United States’ military architecture is pivotal—the F-35’s mission set cannot be filled with more B-21 Raiders, or by fleets of F-47s and F/A-XXs. Each of these platforms was tailor-made to perform very specific tasks for its respective service branch, and works best when used in conjunction with others, trading off financial numbers, readiness, fleet numbers, and interoperability with allies.
The Lighting II
The F-35 is a mass-produced, multirole stealth fighter that, like a Swiss Army Knife, has many tools at its disposal to complete a wide variety of missions, from air-to-air warfare, ground strike, electronic warfare, and also posses a wide variety of sensors to find and track a variety of threats—and the communications suite to pass that information on to other friendly assets in the air and on the ground.
B-21 Raider & B-2 Spirit
The newest bomber poised to enter service with the United States Air Force could very well be the stealthiest airplane aloft once it reaches full operational capability in the near future. It is a long-range strategic bomber: designed to evade enemy radar and survive even in heavily contested airspace.
Though capable of dropping conventional, high-explosive munitions, the B-21 will become the pillar of the United States nuclear triad, and as such, capable of dropping nuclear weapons. Though the exact number of B-21s that will ultimately be produced remains in flux, what is certain is that the B-21 fleet will never number in the thousands, as the F-35s are anticipated to reach.
Likewise, the older B-2 fleet is very small, with just 19 airframes in US Air Force service. B-2s are of an older vintage. While still potent bombers—used most recently against Iranian nuclear infrastructure—they have also been continuously upgraded since their introduction into service. However, they were designed primarily to penetrate heavily protected Soviet airspace and deliver their nuclear payloads. To that end, the B-2 Spirits lack the sophisticated data collection sensor suite of the other stealth platforms.
F-47 & F/A-XX
The newest fighter to enter America’s military ranks is the F-47, an air superiority fighter known from just a few images. Details on that warplane are scant, though what is known is that the fighter jet will replace the current fleet of F-22 Raptors.
Exact procurement numbers fluctuate with time, and the production numbers recently bandied about are not yet definitive. However, that jet is anticipated to be a high-end, exquisite, and highly expensive. The F-47’s design places a premium on the jet’s sensors, its ability to survive, like the B-21 Raider, in highly contested aerial environments thick with enemy radar, missiles, and adversarial fighters.
The upcoming sixth-generation airframe will also be among the first American warplanes to move forward with manned-unmanned teaming, essentially flying with unmanned and notionally expendable Loyal Wingmen drones. The program that ultimately yielded the F-47, the Next Generation Air Dominance initiative, aimed not just to build a sixth-generation fighter, but rather a family of systems that collectively represent a technological leap over other fighters.
Less is known about the Navy’s F/A-XX program, but aside from the program’s broad contours—and quibbles about what that fighter should be called and expected to achieve—a waiting game is in order.
F/A-XX U.S. Navy Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
What can be said, however, is that a next-generation navalized stealth fighter, the F/A-XX, will operate from US Navy aircraft carriers. While some F-35s already fly with the Navy, the F/A-XX—in all likelihood the most survivable and potent aircraft in the US Navy once it enters service—will replace the oldest aircraft in the Navy in what will likely be an enormous boon to American naval aviation.
The F-35 program is notoriously expensive and, infamously, the most expensive military procurement project in American history. The flipside to that cost coin, however, is that F-35s can be churned out of factories at a much higher clip than any other aircraft currently can, with the potential exception of a handful of other fourth-generation jets.
In high-attrition campaigns, this is hugely important. The F-35 is produced in A, B, and C variants, with the Israelis fielding their own bespoke variant.
Many friends and allies depend on the F-35 for their future security. Putting the kibosh on the F-35 program, notionally to free funds for other projects, would be highly unwise.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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