A veteran U.S. Air Force pilot took AF-02 out to the Pacific Ocean on Jan. 14 this year for a simulated dogfight against a F-16D and he had troubles defeating his opponent using the new jet.
By U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joely Santiago [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The F-16D was flown with two drop tanks which increases the drag but yet the F-35A was not able to exploit the advantage due to “insufficient pitch rate” of the new fighter.