Air combat is advancing at such a pace and about to head in a new direction that reports of a hi-tech F-35 fighter losing a simulated dogfight to a 1970s-design F-16 are irrelevant to the new stealth jets future, according to an ex-RAF group captain. The advanced systems and sensors aboard the F-35 mean its pilots will fly and fight in a new way, and the jet should not be measured using the same standards as older fighters, according to Andrew Linstead, who spent 27 years in the RAF flying in Tornados.