PLANS for Australia’s next generation F-35 fighter jets to be tested against old A-10 attack jets have been criticised by a prestigious test pilot.

While critics of the F-35 welcome a showdown with the purpose-built ground-attack A-10, US fighter pilot Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Wood doesn’t share the same enthusiasm.

As commander of the US Air Force’s 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron — a division tasked with developing new tactics for frontline fighters — Lt-Colonel Wood believes the showdown would not deliver any reasonable insights as results could be skewed.

“You run the risk of drawing unrealistic conclusions,” Lt-Colonel Wood toldCombat Aircraft.

According to the fighter pilot, the two jets have too many vast differences to make for a reasonable comparison — the A-10 is a slow and sturdy twin engine, while the F-35 is a fast and flimsy single-engine plane.

“When you try to have a comparative analysis of a single-mission platform like the A-10 against a platform like the F-35, which is fundamentally designed from the ground up to do something completely different,” he said.

“What I would say is that it’s very important to compare apples to apples.”

To emphasise his point, Lt. Wood referred back to a 2015 report detailing a mock dogfight between an F-35 and F-16.

In the test, the nimble F-16 outperformed its sluggish, hi-tech opponent in offensive, defensive and neutral setups at altitudes ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 feet.

While admitting the F-16 dominated in manoeuvring parameters of the test, Lt-Colonel Wood said it wasn’t an indication of failure for the F-35.

“The F-35 was built with stealth to be able to go places that no one else can go and to be lethal without anyone seeing it,” he said.

“Those are two very different design points. So, what if I draw a conclusion that the F-35 can be [outmanoeuvred] by the F-16 — therefore the F-16 is better?

“Let’s throw in a couple enemy [surface-to-air missiles]. Then let’s see how the F-16 by itself does.”

Lt-Colonel Wood said the findings of this test were prime example of why the two fighter jets should not be compared.

“You can design tests if you have inside knowledge to showcase strengths and weaknesses and abuse them to your own bias if you wanted to do a disingenuous comparative analysis,” he said.

RAAF pilot completes first F-35 flight SQNLDR Andrew Jackson, student at the Eglin AFB Academic Training Centre discusses completing his first flight in the F-35 Lightning II jet.

While he will not be conducting the test between the A-10 and F-35, Lt-Colonel Wood predicted the findings will show both jets can successfully provide close air support, but would use different methods to achieve the goal.

In fact, the fighter pilot said the non-stealthy A-10 would require more risk as it would have fly very low in order to avoid being detected by enemy radars.

“A-10 guys don’t like radar threats,” he said.

“We enjoy the tactics that they force, being down at 100 feet, but when you pop over that ridge line and you’re exposed, you are just sitting there trundling towards the target thinking, ‘Don’t find me. Don’t find me. Don’t find me. OK, good. Bombs are off. Let’s get the hell out of here’.”

Comparatively, the F-35’s speed and stealth would allow the fighter to attack from much higher in the sky.

“I am able to locate and plot the threat relative to the target and can assess whether an attack is tactically feasible or not,” he said.

“If it is, I can take out the target without the threat knowing I’m there and egress without being targeted.”

However, if testing for ground support of troops, Lt-Colonel Wood said the A-10 would have the advantage as it carries more than a thousand rounds of ammunition for its 30-millimetre cannon, while the F-35 carries just 181 rounds for its own 25-millimetre gun.

Australia has already purchased two Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, with an additional 16 aircraft are expected to be purchased by 2019.

Since the development of the aircraft, there have a host of problems including issues with the planes’ drive shaft, visibility and fuel tanks.

Additionally, experts warn fighters emerging in Russia and China are less sluggish, more nimble than the F-35.

The poor response to the Joint Strike Fighters has led to many military experts in Australia calling for the planes to be scrapped entirely.

Earlier this year, retired air force wing commander Chris Mills declared Australia should be opting for F-22 Raptors instead.

“Air combat is the most important single capability for the defence of Australia, because control of the air over our territory and maritime approaches is critical to all other types of operation in the defence of Australia,” Mr Mills wrote in a submission to parliament.

Lockheed Martin remains confident in its fighters saying teething problems were to be expected.

“As a reminder, the F-35 program is still in its developmental phase,” a spokesman said.

“This is the time when issues are expected to be discovered and solutions are implemented to maximise the F-35’s capability for the warfighter.”