Posted on 06/13/2023 4:05:50 PM PDT by maddog55
The Pentagon’s latest plan for the F-35 stealth fighter includes putting a stop on deliveries this summer while it holds out for production jets with the required Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3 hardware to support a range of future improvements.
The much-delayed TR-3 upgrade is critical to supporting the Block 4 modernization for the Joint Strike Fighter. However, it seems that past woes with concurrency — the combined development and production process in which F-35s are manufactured before all features have been completely tested or vetted — are driving this approach. It remains to be seen what kind of impact it could have on the timeline for the stealth jet, which is the Department of Defense’s most expensive weapon system ever.
Next month, the Pentagon plans to stop accepting some newly built F-35s as they come off the production line at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility in Texas, in a development first reported by Breaking Defense. The reason given is the immaturity of the TR-3 hardware. Instead of being delivered to their units, “dozens” of the jets will be stored, temporarily, at Fort Worth. It could take until spring 2024 before issues with TR-3 are ironed out and the jets can finally be handed over.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedrive.com ...
How much do these things cost? $100,000,000 a copy?
Our entire Defense Dept needs to be flushed into the Atlantic.
L
This can’t be! NATO just had an air parade to show russia a thing or two. Plus a strongly worded letter.
Well, who ever the Program Chief Engineer is, he/she/it should be FIRED for gross incompetence. That AF engineer NEVER should have let Lockheed screw up this bad.
...And the military-industrial cabal discovers even more ways to bleed our economy dry.
This time it will be in the form of warehousing charge fees.
The F-35C is now over $350 million each.
Meanwhile, we need to keep proven A10s for close air support. Let the F35 replace A10s when they can be accepted for delivery and have proven they can get the job done.
Don't get rid of something that can do dangerous work right now and just hope in the future something better will come along.
Our military leadership - so disappointing to me in this and other matters.
We’d be better served with non-stealth, cheap and fast missile-trucks. We have assigned too much money to protect a pilot.
Yeah, those pilots grow on trees and we can get as many as we like during a high intensity conflict. SMDH
Ready, Fire, Aim!
What happens in 10 years, when one of these encounters a swarm of 100,000 Chinese drones over Taiwan? Useless.
Biggest problem is the frilly lace on the tranny pilot’s skirts keeps getting caught on some of the control panels...
They’ve been polishing that turd for many years now.
You wonder how much of the plan to park these aircraft is a hardware issue and how much of it is a shortage of pilots.
“Latest F-35s Will Go Directly Into Storage Until Upgrade Woes Ironed Out”
Take that, Putin!!!!
Abrams...Osprey, those are peanut hi-tech boondoggle, money-bleeding programs compared to these F-35s.
...and that Army personnel carrier...
Good question. But as I understand that is one argument for getting rid of the A10s.
Of course, I think they define CAS as 75 miles away at 60,000 feet.
The old joke about a $5000 hammer - after working in defense, I’m surprised it’s that cheap with full mil-spec testing and documentation.
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