The F-35 can not even fire its main gun. The Daily Beast.

The F-35 may look cool but looking cool isn't enough. The Daily Beast/Reuters

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will not even be able to fire its gun until 2019, four years after it comes into service. The Daily Beast. The $400 billion dollar fighter is due to start service with the Marines this year and the Air Force next year. The issue is a software problem. Without an upgrade the 25mm cannon cannot fire. And even if it could it barely carries any ammunition. It has a capacity of only 180 rounds. The fighter will have to rely on only two AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles to defend itself and can carry only two bombs as well. The fighter is due to replace a huge number of airplanes, including the venerable Harrier jumpjets and A-10 Lighting II/Warthog as well as the more modern F-16 and F-18. The lack of an effective gun is a major criticism of the jet as a major role will be to support troops under fire. Guns are more effective in "danger close" situations where the enemy is right next to friendly troops. The F-35 will also be at a huge disadvantage in dogfights due to a lack of weapons. 

My Comment:

Unbelievable. The F-35 has come under righteous criticism for being a huge waste of taxpayer money before but this is just crazy. Not having a main gun is a huge issue for a fighter that may be expected to dogfight. The Air Force tried having a gunless fighter jet back in Vietnam. The F-4 Phantom II had no gun and when it got into battles over North Vietnam pilots often found themselves in close range dogfights with no real way to hurt their enemies since their missiles were mostly useful at long range. Eventually they were modified to carry gunpods. If the F-4 Phantom II had problems with its nine hardpoints and large numbers of missiles, how will the F-35 fare with only two? 

Eventually the F-35 will get its gun. I hope. But the fighter is still a huge waste of money and is a classic case of trying to do too much. The F-22 is a better dogfighter. The A-10 is a better air support and tank killer. The F-16 and F-18 are probably better dogfighters too and can carry more bombs and missiles. The only real advantage the F-35 has is stealth, an advantage that the Chinese are working very hard to negate. Trying to be a jack of all trades is a very bad idea for a fighter jet. Specialist fighters, bombers and air support planes are the way to go.

Unfortunately that won't happen. The F-35 is a huge pork barrel project, one that even transcends international borders. The F-35 has equipment and components spread across hundreds of congressional districts and even in international areas as well. No congressperson in any of these districts is going to stand up and say "hey, the F-35 isn't really all that good". To do so would be political suicide since it would cost jobs. Hopefully, our troops don't suffer too much due to classic Washington politics.