Posted on 12/31/2014 7:19:35 PM PST by thetallguy24
At this point, it's not even funny how much the Pentagon has screwed up the development of its new stealth fighter jet, the F-35. But the latest report that the jet's 25mm cannon won't be operational until 2019 at the earliest is just laughable. Even more laughable is that it probably doesn't even need the gun to begin with.
Unnamed Air Force officials revealed the bad news in a Daily Beast story about the F-35. Apparently the software that will power the four-barreled rotary cannon on the Air Force version of the jet, the F-35A, won't be ready for at least four more years. The Navy and Marine Corps version use a different cannon, but it'll also be years before the software's ready for those guns.
The real kicker here is that the gun is probably just dead weight (read: a waste of taxpayer dollars) anyways. The F-35A's cannon can fire 3,300 rounds per minute but can only hold 180 rounds. "I would be lying if I said there exists any plausible tactical air-to-air scenario where the F-35 will need to employ the gun," one senior Air Force official told the Daily Beast. "Personally, I just don't see it ever happening and think they should have saved the weight [by getting rid of the gun altogether]."
The jet, which is also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, is already the most expensive weapon in American history. It's expected to cost the Pentagon well over $1 trillion over the next 50 years. And little hiccups like this only add more taxpayer dollars to that price tag. [Daily Beast]
Ummmm....didn't they say something similar about the F-4 Phantom? Funny how history repeats.
At tho rate, by the time they actually get it battle-ready, it’s going to be an antique.
“I would be lying if I said there exists any plausible tactical air-to-air scenario where the F-35 will need to employ the gun,”
They’ll never learn. This thing is becoming a bridge to unmanned drones.
seems like the F22 worked just fine but we had to scrap that... so we could have MRAPs... which we’re giving away to local police departments now.
YESIR DEED DEE!
I remember the 20mm brass from a Phantom’s strafing run nearly beaning us during one CAS mission in Vietnam.
Gun’s-R-Good!
So 3 seconds of ammo...
OK, work with me on this one. A little sliding door in the canopy so the pilot can draw his sidearm, stick it out, and blow away the enemy aircraft with blazing six-gun action. I’ll bet it would work in the movies.
Someone needs to stop trying to re-invent the wheel every time they turn around.
It carries such little ammo that each shot needs to be a hit, hence intense software for aiming.
To paraphrase a famous sports phrase...
players play
coaches coach
engineers engineer
and software expands to fill available computer space
The software drives the hardware
And spending grows to exceed revenue.
The F22 will probably be the pentacle of fighter aircraft in future history, that breathed air and burned jet-a.
The f35, etc., are all down hill after.
The next big fighter will be drone and probably not propulsed by burned fossil fuels.
I’ve wondered about that. I have some empty 30mm from an A-10 Warthog and those things are heavy enough to sting, plus they come out in big quantities.
Heck yeah! Uh...that thing is pointed straight at the pilot’s head. Note to self: design firing cutout. Or hire lots of pilots.
It just burns my a55.
Nothing like a little depleted uranium to rattle the tank hull...
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