Picking up on Jims point i went to Wikkipedia to check the specs
I was always impressed by the harrier jump jet that came out in the 60's well to support the marvel of this F35 consider this point
Harrier Top speed .....735 Mph
F35 current specified top speed 1200 Mph
Just think if you stationed jets like this in say Denver, you got just a little more than an hour and you in any part of the continental USA.
Now put them closer to an enemy add in Stealth factor and the weapons capability and you back having breakfast before the enemy even knew what hit em.
What a change from a spitfire scrambling off the ground to meet the oncoming hordes of German bombers and timing everything to have max time in air max height before contact and having to take out your opposition visually in face to face combat.
Given most of us lived through the cold war, i think there is one very strategic issue that is associated with this plane.
Development cost and customer base of this plane and its technology is being participated in by a host of countries. It demonstrates that the ability of a single nation to fund and develop such technology given the cost and sophistication of technology today implies that to go up against this plane, an opposition entity is going to have to muster a similar kind of technical participation and customer base before such opposition can produce a counterpart. Highly unlikely in my view if you look at the potential opposition candidates.
So by this pure fact alone its existence is kinda terminating the potential for a repeated arms race of the kind we lived through in the 60's 70's .
High price tag on this item but me thinks its worth it for that kind of macro effect. Lets just hope none of the participants ever go rogue.