An F-35 Lightning II flies over as part of the Heritage Flight, also comprising of the P-51 Mustang, A-10 Thunderbolt, and F-22 Raptor, during Luke Days at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 18, 2018. US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Bolken
Business Insider: The F-35 was once trounced by F-16s in dogfights, but it just proved it can out-turn older jets
* In 2015 the F-35 lost repeatedly in mock dogfights with F-16s because it couldn't turn well enough, a test pilot wrote in an official report.
* But new videos leaked from the US Air Force's F-35 demo or stunt flying team show the jet making head-spinning turns that older jets could never hit.
* A former F-35 squadron commander told Business Insider that the jet has become an excellent dogfighter, and the new moves show it.
Early in its combat testing, a test pilot's damning report leaked to the press and exposed the world's most expensive weapons system, the F-35, as a bad dogfighter that the F-16 routinely trounced in mock battles.
But new videos leaked from the US Air Force's F-35 demo or stunt flying team show the jet making head-spinning turns that older jets could never hit.
In 2015, the test pilot's write up of the jet's combat performance obliterated the idea of F-35 as a capable dogfighter due to a glaring flaw: Weak maneuverability.
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WNU Editor: It is about time.
