Hill AFB here is the home of the first fully operational F-35 squadrons. They have deployed numerous times to war zones, and have seen a good deal of combat already. The guys in flight suits that I corner while shopping in the commissary are happy to tell me it is a very good airplane - finally. There is no argument that it took way too long, was far too ambitious, and many times too expensive to develop. But the end product is damn good.
If the F-22 ever gets to the "furball" dogfighting stage of air-to-air combat, it has failed utterly in its mission. It is designed to detect, track, and kill from long to very long range, before the enemy even knows it is there. Fighter pilots dearly love to engage with guns, in close, and under high Gs - but that is a tactic about as outmoded as horse cavalry.
