I hear he’s looking at buying super hornets instead. With the saved money, they should look at restarting the F22 program. The stealth capabilities seem like they would be useful for gaining control of the skies.
There needs to be an outside, independent audit of the entire F-35 Program. Operations, also.
I don’t trust anything from the F-35 Program Office, nor Lockheed..
Agreed, my good FRiend.
In fact, my reply to an earlier thread on this topic...
There is actually better idea.
Much MUCH better, in fact...
Restart the F22 program!
.
And a restart of the A-10, with night fighting abilities built in.
Cancelling the F-35 is a negotiating position. The first F-35 Squadron is going to be activated early 2017. Now that the software problems are all worked out and the F-35 can fly and compete against other aircraft with it’s full combat capabilities it is proving to be the most formidable aircraft in the world. Since the latest block software was certified the F-35 has won every engagement up to 6 vs 1. The F-35 provides its pilots with capabilities no other aircraft possesses and will give our pilots a huge advantage over every other aircraft and SAM system. At this point with it’s full capabilities available the F-35 is nearly unbeatable, at least according to the pilots that it and those that have flown against it. Considering the first squadron will be activated early next year, and the Navy has already made the modifications to many ships from which the F-35 will operate - (Large Deck Amphibs LHD, LHA etc...etc...). Also, the Air Force and the Navy have already set up supply systems and the other infrastructure to support the F-35. We are past the point of no return with the F-35, the biggest mistake at this point would be to cancel the F-35 thus throwing out the baby with the bath water. The best course of action would be to slap down tough oversight on Lockheed, something the Pentagon has gotten very lax at in the last two decades. Yes, Lockheed sucks and I hate them too, I worked on the LCS program with them and they are terrible vis-à-vis cheating in ways that allow them to do cost overruns, but the fact is they have built the most advanced and stealthy aircraft of all time, it is a game changer. And it is a fact that much of the F-35’s unique capabilities are due to the fact that brand new technology was developed - (a very expensive proposition creating new tech) - and that is a huge part of the cost. There are plenty of video’s of F-35 pilots explaining the capabilities with the finished software and the amazing new helmet they have.