Korea Times reported that the Lockheed Martin F-35 may not be able to achieve two of the South Korean Air Force’s key requirements.
The jet is not able to fly faster than Mach 1.6 and South Korea requires the aircraft to be able to carry external stores, a point Lockheed Martin might not be able to meet when delivering the jet.
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Historically this news media outlet has been against the F-35. Reporting such silly allegations that the aircraft they would receive would be far less than an FSD aircraft. They cannot justify the claim. They continue to site “industry insiders” and use such negative and derogatory terms as ‘perform worse’ and ‘get away with’. The requirements for this contract appear to have been continually redefined to be more inclusive for the other contenders and to not write the RFP to exclude any one aircraft. (Lessening of the stealth requirement) But pressure from outside sources may be intended to exclude…and as the RFP is adjusted, the envelope will move towards 1970’s technology. And that’s right where they need to be.