They aren’t AWACS so other than guiding our other jets to them with GPS, Navic or radar then they have to fight as a normal 4.5th generation fighter with the rest of them but they will still face the same threats from SAM and A2A missiles.Do consider that this is part of US doctrine: The F-35 has limited internal weapons capacity. Hence, a bunch of 4.5th generation aircraft would launch weapons from stand-off ranges (where the danger to them would be lesser) and the F-35 would then act as a networking hub to lead those munitions closer to the target, ultimately ceding control to the weapons' own internal guidance systems.