Great! ...a solid step backward in US air superiority is now official! The Vietnam lesson might come back to bite them in the ass again.
The F-35 isn't meant to be a fighter. It's an attack plane, supposed to replace the F/A-18, AV-8B and theoretically the A-10. The F-22 is the Air Superiority bird.
Besides, the F-35 has a gun. It just doesn't have the software to use it!