The US Air Force has come to terms with the failure of the F-35 program, which for a whole decade was the only attempt to replace the main American fighter, the F-16, Forbes reported.

Amid growing competition, the F-35's design was significantly complicated, which slowed down development, increased costs and reduced the reliability of the project. Thus, Air Force leaders had to accept the fact that they could not compensate for the time-tested F-16s with the same number of F-35s. And the military already admits that they will have to launch a new program.

Meanwhile, even if the American Air Force nevertheless makes such an attempt, there is a high probability that the scenario will repeat - and the new fighter will not replace the F-16, but will again turn out to be as expensive, unreliable, and mediocre as the F -35.