Posted on 02/26/2012 10:59:37 PM PST by U-238
Three new F-35B Joint Strike Fighters will officially be joining the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing's Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 following a Feb. 24 ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
The rollout of three airplanes is largely symbolic considering that the squadron was activated two years ago in anticipation of having 15 to 20 aircraft. But this debut nonetheless is a “huge deal,” says Marine Corps Col. Arthur Tomassetti, vice commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing, which oversees pilot and crew training for all three F-35 variants that will be flown by the Air Force, the Navy and the Marine Corps.
The F-35 of late has been a symbol of dysfunctional, overpriced Pentagon programs. Of the three aircraft variants that the U.S. military is buying, none has been more troubled than the Marine Corps’ short-takeoff, vertical landing F-35B. The STOVL aircraft has been on procurement deathwatch for some time and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last month removed it from a “probationary status” following a series of test failures.
Tomassetti, a seasoned combat aviator and the only U.S. military pilot to have flown all three versions of the early F-35 prototypes, says it is no surprise that the F-35B has been difficult to build, as it is practically a miracle of engineering.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaldefensemagazine.org ...
The future of the aircraft is still uncertain, nonetheless. Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall recently acknowledged that JSF has been the victim of “acquisition malpractice” because it was rushed to production before the development and testing were completed. Cost overruns are still being sorted out as the Pentagon and JSF manufacturer Lockheed Martin continue to haggle over future pricing. The Air Force intends to buy 1,763 F-35As, the Navy 260 F-35C carrier variants and Marine Corps 340 F-35Bs.
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Our little local paper carried a story today about how the F-35 program is a failure. Where’s our next John Boyd?
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