"The US military has gone crazy: the new batch of F-35s have no radar!" On February 5, 2026, local time, U.S. media reported a shocking move by the U.S. military: some newly delivered F-35A stealth fighters of the U.S. Air Force did not have radar installed! In other words, this is a fifth-generation fighter with radar, the F-35A daytime version. According to the U.S. media, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee stated that the U.S. Air Force's F-35A stealth fighter will, within two years, do its utmost to resolve the radar compatibility issue as soon as possible and become a day-and-night fighter. The new batch of U.S. Air Force F-35A stealth fighters, however, are without radar, and the reason is simple: the American-made APG-85 radar was delayed in delivery, but the new F-35A stealth fighter requires the installation of the APG-85 radar, and the traditional APG-81 radar of the F-35A stealth fighter can no longer be used.

U.S. media report screenshot

U.S. media confirmed that the F-35 fighter was delivered to the U.S. military without radar

Therefore, the new batch of U.S. F-35A stealth fighters have no detection or fire control radar, and only have ballast at the nose. This batch of F-35A stealth fighters only have stealth capability, and even cannot be called a fighter, because they lack fire control radar guidance, and can only rely on U.S. pilots' visual observation to launch Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. According to the U.S. media, the F-35 fighter produced by Lockheed Martin uses the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-81 radar, which differs in size, volume, and dimensions from the expected deployed AN/APG-85 radar. The new APG-85 radar may be delayed until after two years, approximately the 20th batch of F-35 fighters, before it can be delivered. This means that starting from June 2025, this batch of F-35A fighters will have no radar and will wait for the delivery of the AN/APG-85 radar.

The U.S. media believes that the Chinese Air Force will equip 1,000 J-20 stealth fighters

According to the U.S. media's report, these F-35 fighters without radar must fly together with other F-35 stealth fighters equipped with the APG-81 radar in order to carry out missions smoothly. Regarding this major problem of the F-35A stealth fighter, whether the F-35 fighters without radar affect the U.S. delivery to allies, the U.S. side explained: "The radar issue does not affect sales to countries with F-35 fighters equipped with the APG-81 radar." According to the U.S. side, although the annual production of F-35 fighters in the United States is indeed astonishing, reaching 170 to 200 per year, starting from June 2025, the newly produced F-35 fighters will have no radar! In 2025, the F-35 fighter delivered a record number of 191 aircraft, part of which were produced in 2024 and rejected by the U.S. military, then repaired and delivered in 2025. These F-35 fighters without radar are all accepted by the U.S. military, not because the Lockheed Martin factory had no space, but because the U.S. military had to accept it reluctantly.

Who would have thought that the U.S. military's F-35 stealth fighter has no radar!

According to the logic of the U.S. arms dealers, just say the F-35A fighter, has it been delivered? It's not that it can't fly! Although it lacks something (the key radar of the fighter), it doesn't affect its use. Later on, it's estimated that the F-35 stealth fighter will lack more things, just make do with it, and if necessary, modify the F-35's performance. The U.S. defense industry complex needs to make money, and the U.S. F-35 sells more to allies, so it can't ruin the reputation of U.S. weapons. Therefore, the U.S. authorities are planning to let the U.S. Navy and Air Force suffer a little. For the U.S. military, as long as it doesn't fight a big power, the F-35 fighter without radar is not impossible to use.

The U.S. made a strategic miscalculation about the J-20, and the delay in the delivery of the F-35 radar affected combat effectiveness

Without fire control radar, the F-35 can only visually launch short-range air-to-air missiles

"The U.S. Air Force's biggest fear: China is building a large fleet of 1,000 J-20 'Giants' stealth fighters," according to U.S. media reports, the annual production of the J-20 has increased to 120 units, which means that the procurement volume of fifth-generation aircraft by the People's Liberation Army Air Force is almost three times that of the U.S. Air Force. "Currently, there is little data on the combat readiness status of the J-20 stealth fighter of the Chinese Air Force, but assuming that 70% of the aircraft are combat-ready and have the same maneuverability as their allies, this assumption is reasonable. This means that the People's Liberation Army Air Force has approximately 799 maneuverable fighters available at any time." Obviously, the U.S. media has to admit that the production speed and combat power of the J-20 stealth fighter are beyond the reach of the United States.

The power of the J-20 fighter, including quantity, radar, air-to-air missiles, and stealth

The combat power of the J-20A far exceeds the F-35 and F-22 fighters

In particular, the U.S. media revealed on February 5, 2026, that the new batch of F-35 fighters had no radar, and the new radar was delayed in delivery, which clearly showed the U.S. strategic miscalculation. The U.S. Pentagon must have believed that the production speed of U.S. fifth-generation fighters exceeded the world. If we look at the production speed of Russia's Su-57 fighter, the new batch of U.S. F-35 fighters, even without the new radar, would take two years, and the production of the Su-57 would not catch up to the zero of the F-35. However, the U.S. underestimated the mass production speed of the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter: China is building 1,000 J-20 stealth fighters!

The J-20S is considered a 5.5th generation fighter

J-36, J-50, unmanned fighters will be the goals of the Chinese Air Force for the next five years

Not only are fifth-generation fighters lagging behind China, but the U.S. Air Force has no fifth-and-a-half generation fighters, such as the twin-seat J-20S fighter, let alone the sixth-generation fighters like J-36 and J-50, unmanned air superiority fighters, loyal wingmen, radars, and air-to-air missiles, which are all one generation behind China. The U.S. early warning aircraft are two to three generations behind China. The future of the U.S. Air Force has already ended, and the U.S. is still acting like a ostrich. After the India-Pakistan 57 real combat verification, the J-10CE launched the PL-15 air-to-air missile and shot down four French Mirage fighters. The tactics and aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force are still at the level of 10 years ago.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7604414794988257842/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.