The only thing more expensive than having the best air force, is having the second-best air force.
That sounds good on paper. The FW190 and ME262 were far and above the allied aircraft and did little to further the cause. Swarms of P47's and P51's could be deployed and overwhelm the far more advanced ME262. A few F35's against SA400 batteries thick as thieves, just lucky shots would take out most if not all. Remember the F35 is not going to be fighting guys in Toyota trucks, the Russians and Chinese have formidable weapon systems in spades.
The really high value targets are very well defended, it is going to take an overwhelming response to achieve results. I remember when the B2 was in development, then pre-production and finally production. The fleet numbers slipped at every step until the number was insignificant. Remember the B2 was going to replace the B52. The sad fact is, every new airplane is old before it is deployed and becomes so costly that they are never ordered in the numbers needed.
While I do think we still have rolls for manned attack and fighter aircraft, unmanned aircraft make more sense in a number of situations. Honestly cruise missile type craft with higher payload and more sophisticated systems, a smart bomb in its own little stealth airplane with countermeasures. We have all that technology right now, in large orders the avionics/targeting and ECM could be done inexpensively.
The existential threats we face are thousands upon thousands of missiles and hundreds of airplanes. A couple of squadrons of F35's as capable as they are claimed to be are no match. Particularly without external stores, they just don't have the depth of of ordnance. The bar has moved and the weapons we fought previous wars with aren't the weapons we will fight the next one with.
An F35 may be able to track and target dozens of threats, without the ability to kill each of these what good are they. There is strength in numbers that is just not replicated any other way. A few hundred airplanes on each coast is nothing, especially when you consider up time and maintenance. A few squadrons in each sector. The total cost involved are so high they devour the resources needed for other programs. This is just plain dumb. The cost either needs to come way down and force strength increased or we find a plan B
Steve