Posted on 04/02/2014 9:21:58 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
On CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, national security correspondent David Martin chronicled the seemingly never-ending list of problems with the Pentagon’s next-generation F-35 fight jet, from cost overruns of $160 billion to technical problems that have plagued the plane’s development.
When asked if the F-35 program, which is expected to cost some $1.5 trillion over the four-decade life of the program, is now under control, the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, Frank Kendall, said, "Yes, it is."
But that commitment came with a warning.
“Long gone is the time when we're going to pay for mistake after mistake after mistake," said Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the officer who took control of the F-35 program last year. He added that the planes are necessary, however, to keep pace with the technology being developed by U.S. rivals Russia and China.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefiscaltimes.com ...
REALLY?
Lockheed is supposed to make sure work is "not up to snuff" ? ? ?
The concept is that stealth trumps range, firepower and maneuverability. But stealth is affected by computing power and radar networking. Computing power is increasing so rapidly that this short range, under powered poorly armed plane will have a short useful lifespan when and if they do get it right.
isnt this Brave New world Just Exhilarating??
The F-35(like the “A-12”) IS A First Class PIECE OF LOCKHEED MARTIN SHIT!
Such is the nature of airplanes. The cost of leading edge technology is constant change and improvement either to make the system better or to deal with surprises the designers didn't foresee.
Misleading headline...
They should say the same about Obamacare, but they won’t
I don’t think any company could produce a plane like the govt is asking for.
It has to do everything for everyone.
They had a great plane, the F22 and threw it away.
You'll also end up with a platform that may have an unseen flaw that an enemy can can exploit to eliminate ALL branches' ability to fight and survive.
The 737 does its main job exceedingly well.
This aircraft doesn’t do anything well.
Whatever happened to the F-22? ....................
They need to revive this bird.
And I keep hearing that we shouldn’t be cutting the Defense Budget. This is what happens when you have more money than you need. You tolerate things like this.
I’ve long felt the flaws in the F-35 stem from the concept that the airframe could be adapted to be all things to all people. McNamara tried this with the F-111. He learned (eventually) that trying to make a plane that can do everything for everyone, especially in the hopes of saving costs usually ends up with a design that always costs far more than expected, and also usually results up in a compromise design that doesn’t excel in any particular area.
All in MHO, of course.
The F22 had its own share of issues - but overall, it was probably the better choice, and yes - truckloads of $$$ were flushed down the toilet when it was cancelled.
Follow the $$$$....
Its easy to say we aren’t paying for mistakes but this is a CPIF contract so, yes we are paying for mistakes. Ordering fewer jets doesn’t really punish LM so much as it punishes tax payers. It just means the cost per plane goes up, so we pay the same or higher total contract price for fewer units. It really just makes it harder to justify the increasing bill and hastening the death spiral.
I am not defending the F-35. I was just illustrating that an airframe is exceedingly fluid and full of surprises in its lifecycle.
well, thank goodness we have the F-22 ...
oh wait...
thx 0bama
Discarded after spending billions, with the features rolled into the F-35.
I would agree that any complex system is going to have problems.
In my ignorant opinion the F35 has an excessive number of issues and exists solely on its political supporters.
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