Posted on 11/25/2024 1:11:05 PM PST by DFG
Elon Musk again fired insults at the Pentagon’s F-35 program as he prepares to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency and advise the White House on how to slash federal spending.
The billionaire backer of Donald Trump’s election campaign slammed the “idiots” who continue to build manned fighter jets like the F-35 in a Sunday post on X, adding a trash can emoji.
In a separate post on Monday Musk, who is CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, doubled down.
“The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level, because it was required to be too many things to too many people,” he wrote. This made it an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none. Success was never in the set of possible outcomes.
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“And manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones anyway,” Musk added. “Will just get pilots killed.”
Musk has long claimed that the Lockheed Martin fighter jets are headed toward obsolescence, arguing that drone warfare is the future. Specifically, he has called for fighter jets that are remote-controlled by humans with the capacity for autonomous maneuvers.
“We have combat capable aircraft in operation today and they perform exceptionally well against the threat for which they were designed,” a Pentagon spokesperson told The Post. “Pilots continually emphasize that this is the fighter they want to take to war if called upon.”
A Lockheed Martin spokesperson told The Post the jets are the “most advanced, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world” and that they look forward to working with Trump and his team.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Unless there is a Musk in charge (we are short of Musks) an unmanned replacement, or set of replacements, for the F35 are also going to be horribly expensive.
I agree with him regarding manned jets. But I disagree with him regarding Mars. There is no need for costly manned missions. AI and robots can handle it just fine, and they don’t get pregnant.
Plus, it appears the human body is not created for space travel for long lengths of time.
Whatever, the money sucking contractors are on notice. That should lower costs significantly. There will be less lawmaker kick backs.,
“AI and robots can handle it just fine, and they don’t get pregnant.”
Easy solution for the pregnant concern - just be sure all ‘women’ sent there are trannies. Will the Democrats complain? Can they complain, in that case?
In a peer level war a fighter is dead on scene, so we are paying $300 million per aircraft to maybe drop a bomb or two.
Wait until he finds out about floating bullseyes—er aircraft carriers.
Lol.
These comments from Elon are telling. I think President Trump through his surrogates understand Washington better than he did in 2016. Trump is sounding out warnings - from different aspects of the government. It’s very interesting to what.
The F-16 is the perfect platform for state of the art missiles. Do you know how many F-16s you can make with a trillion dollars? The focus on next generation fighters has been an almost complete boondoggle. Half of our military budget should be spent on drones and robots. This is the future war. We always fight the last war without fail.
The Pentagon is simply a money whore assembly line. Work there, retire, take your payday from Raytheon.
I’m a Musk fan, however, I think he should jockey an F16 and then report back to us. A kid in Missouri on a joystick is different from a man piloting a real jet in a combat situation and feeling visceral fighting sensations shooting down bad guys.
I don’t think it’s wise to challenge Elon about anything that flies.
“I agree with him regarding manned jets. But I disagree with him regarding Mars. There is no need for costly manned missions. AI and robots can handle it just fine, and they don’t get pregnant.”
Given the fact that our leftist rulers/abusers are trying to replace us with massive migration of foreigners I make the counter argument we need more pregnant Americans, in space or anywhere else.
“Pilots continually emphasize that this is the fighter they want to take to war if called upon.”
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Trouble is that the F-35 readiness is terrible. The pilots might want to fly it, but they will have only a few to fly.
There will be a place for manned fighter/bombers in the future, but only after drone superiority has been achieved in theater.
The human body also struggles to tolerate the G forces and other characteristics that today’s fighter jets are capable of.
I’ll give it to Elon though......he certainly can see the future.
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Release the Kraken!
And if there is an emergency/disaster, we don’t have to spend $$$$ to get anyone back or save them.
...good point....!! I worked on Block 30 F-16s many years ago; they were all built in about 1987 or so and most are now resting quietly in the “boneyard” or have been turned into aerial targets...but I believe the assembly line is still open and they are building Block 70s for the export trade...? The U.S. Air Force does not want any “legacy” aircraft so they will not buy the newest and baddest F-16s.....just keep sinking tax dollars into the F-35.....
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