I think what y’all gotta understand is that despite a knowledge and interest in combat aviation, I despise the military-industrial complex. I don’t play cheerleader for specific aircraft in real-world use, I don’t treat this as a game, I am wholly and fully aware of what the intent of killing machines are at the end of the day. I’ll tell you what I enjoy in a sim, what historical tidbits and engineering I find fascinating, but if you ask me “what I think” of some modern defense industry pork projects, I’m going to call it what it is- cruft that primarily exists to put money into the pockets of corrupt executives.
The best thing combat equipment can do in the real world is become completely and permanently irrelevant. Nobody deserves to die for the egos of politicians.