Construction Defect

As I have noted a couple of times, the U.S. has stopped production of the F-22 Raptor, the most lethal fighter in the world and replaced it - sort of - with the F-35. The F-35 is being designed as a flying version of the Swiss army knife - there is an Air Force version, a Navy version, and a VTOL Marine version. Trying to make it please all 3 services, and a host of allies who have ordered it, however, has made it impossible for the F-35 to do its best for any one service. Test pilot reports are now coming in and they are not good.

One of the biggies reported by the pilots is very limited rear visibility. A fighter pilot is taught to "always check your 6!" which is the 6 o'clock position directly behind the aircraft because when you get shot down it's normally from that position. The ability to do this in an F-35 is almost non-existent because the fuselage slopes up behind the canopy. It was designed this way to allow for a common ejection seat mechanism between the different service variants. The problem was supposed to be solved by optical sensors showing a 360 degree view around the aircraft. The problem: the sensors don't work. Well, I hope the ejection seats do as there may be a lot of pilots having to use them after getting shot down from behind. How about we re-open the F-22 line and do it right?
www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/03/f-35-blind-spot/