Nah; you mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling - Pierre Sprey would only have the time of his life if the US armed forces scrapped everything currently in their possession and standardized on MiG-21F-13s and M48A5s. Why M48A5s? Because this is how Pierre Sprey thinks the world works. (Evidently, he also thinks flight envelopes and flight control computer laws spring to life fully-formed from the blueprint table, but that's one of the less stupid ideas to come out of the "reform" brigade recently.)
"The helmet was too large for the space inside the canopy to adequately see behind the aircraft. There were multiple occasions when the bandit would've been visible (not blocked by the seat) but the helmet prevented getting in a position to see him (behind the high side of the seat, around the inside of the seat, or high near the lift vector). There were also several other times where the seat blocked the view...Whenever the helmet was pinned against the canopy, the pilot continued to strive to turn his neck resulting in the symbology no longer being in front of the eyes."
"The helmet was too large for the space inside the canopy to adequately see behind the aircraft. There were multiple occasions when the bandit would've been visible (not blocked by the seat) but the helmet prevented getting in a position to see him (behind the high side of the seat, around the inside of the seat, or high near the lift vector). There were also several other times where the seat blocked the view...Whenever the helmet was pinned against the canopy, the pilot continued to strive to turn his neck resulting in the symbology no longer being in front of the eyes."
Oh. Wow.
Honestly, I looked at that report and it seems that the test pilot is mostly talking about problems with software and electronics. Being able to miniaturize the HMD should be simple enough thanks to Moore's law and most of his other suggested fixes involve tweaking the software to make the fly-by-wire systems stop trying to kill you by making sure the crew chiefs won't hate your guts when you get back to base. (I swear, when I heard about the fly-by-wire systems on the F-22 that prolongs the life-cycle of the airframe, I thought sarcastically: "That won't get any pilots killed") On the other hand, most of the criticism levied at the F-35 boil down to two problems:
- The engine is underpowered for the airframe. - There is no bubble canopy.
Wait.. There were some disadvantages...Oh my, what an unusual affair for a brand-new fighter to lose the battle.You'll do better next time.That's a misunderstanding!And make sure to load out with more "maneuverable" gears.And what the heck are you looking at!It was a dogfight anyway but... This is embarassing.Guys-! F-35 lost to F-16...Hey!!Just listen to me already!
