Here's what pilots who've flown the F-35 have to say about the most expensive weapons project in history

On the heels of the US Air Force's decision to declare its version of the F-35 ready for war, a new report from the Heritage Foundation complied interviews from Air Force pilots to compare the fifth-generation jet to previous fighter jets.

"Only the pilots who have flown the fighter actually know how well the Air Force version of the F-35 can perform, and the 31 who were surveyed for this paper expressed a high degree of confidence in this extraordinary fighter," wrote the report's author, John Venable, a senior research fellow for defense policy and a retired US Air Force Thunderbird commander.

His findings: Pilots prefer the F-35.

Currently the Air Force is scheduled to buy nearly 70% of the fifth-generation jets being made domestically - 1,763 of 2,443 aircraft. As the largest buyer of F-35s, the Air Force sets the economies of scale for the tri-service fighter, with each plane costing a cool $100 million.

Venable's report urges the full planned buy of F-35As as the Air Force is operating the oldest fleet in its history and the F-35 is a "generational leap beyond other multirole fighters."

Here's a look at more of Venable's findings ...