Mr Secretary - Why Does the Pentagon Say the JSF is a 5th Generation Fighter . . Really?

To: The Hon Robert Gates
US Secretary of Defense

Dear Mr Gates,

The term 5th Generation Fighter appears very frequently these days in public statements, press releases, PowerPoint slides and interviews. More than often the label is attached concurrently to the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22A Raptor, despite the enormous differences in the design of these aircraft.

This begs two very basic questions. What is a 5th Generation fighter; and which fighters actually qualify as 5th Generation designs? The question which follows, is whether the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter actually qualifies, on merit, as a 5th Generation fighter.

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