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

America's most expensive weapons program is rolling in good news this week.

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 ...