Equipment

Since then, stealth technology has expanded exponentially, culminating in the unprecedented capabilities of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. With an easily maintainable 5th generation stealth design, advanced situational awareness and highly integrated mission systems, the F-35 Lightning II is highly survivable and lethal as deployed in today’s advanced air defense threat environments.
The F-35 will soon perform ground attack, aerial reconnaissance and air defense missions for U.S. and allied military forces, and officially joined a Marine Corps squadron in July. With advanced stealth and sensors, it can detect enemy craft long before being spotted first. Its external shape, internal carriage of weapons and fuel and embedded sensors are all designed for maximum stealth performance.

Vladimir Putin is not a man to back down from provocation, especially a direct, lethal provocation like the shooting down of a Russian Su-24 aircraft by Turkey on Tuesday. Such an attack raises the possibility of a direct military confrontation, and makes you wonder just what Russia could do if you rattled its cage. How dangerous are they? Russia's defense complex may be just a shadow of the old Soviet Union, with defense spending only about 12 percent of the USA's. As such, many in the West tend to see Russian hardware as second-rate-stuck with 1970's electronics, crude manufacturing standards, and no money to improve matters. If the Russians make anything good, the thinking goes, they must have copied it from the West. The poor performance of the Russian-equipped Iraqi army in 2003 (and Russian-supplied Arab forces against the Israelis) reinforces the idea of inferior Russian military tech.

Equipment upgrades will give soldiers an advantage on the battlefield of tomorrow.