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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNew Red Alert for Billions-Over-Budget F-35 Fighter
Yikes
Federal auditors are once again sounding alarms over the Pentagons embattled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which has soared hundreds of billions of dollars over budget.
Besides being the Defense Departments most expensive weapons program ever, countless problems with the F-35, including design and systematic issues, have continually pushed back the ready-for-combat date. It is now years behind schedule.
Engine issues are one of the major problems inspectors have flagged. The Government Accountability Office reviewed data from flight tests earlier this month and concluded that the reliability of the F-35s engine, made by Pratt & Whitney, is very poor. That makes the likelihood that the jet will soon be ready for battle even more dubious.
The Marine Corps version of the F-35 flew just 47 hours because of engine design issues, instead of the 90 hours it was scheduled to fly, GAO officials told Bloomberg. Likewise, the Air Force and Navy versions of the F-35 flew just 25 hours instead of the 120 hours planned.
The GAOs findings come just as lawmakers are considering whether to grant the DoD an additional $1.2 billion for the jet engines next year. Theyve already approved roughly $17 billion of the total $67 billion for the F-35s engines alone. The entire programs price tag is about $391 billion and counting.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/new-red-alert-for-billions-over-budget-f-35-fighter/ar-BBiKiHW
A HERETIC I AM
(24,362 posts)"What is the purpose of the F-35?"
"The purpose is to send money to Lockheed."
https://m.
Here's a pic designed to make wood hard;
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-most-expensive-weapons-system-114431632.html#cover-4e7a73810b681ad0e0b3e47068003113
Golden Raisin
(4,605 posts)Our bridges/roads are literally falling down, children go to bed hungry, education is underfunded, we have no viable high-speed trains, etc., etc. However in the richest country the planet has ever seen there is apparently unlimited money (our tax dollars!) for the Defense Department and the Military-Industrial Complex. And they piss it away.
Owl
(3,639 posts)instead give all these MIC-type companies in all 50 states the same $ to engineer solutions and products for the common good?
Why are the brilliant minds of these scientists and engineers wasted on worthless crap?
Subsidize the same $ with our tax money but change the focus?
Turbineguy
(37,295 posts)having the last laugh. Posthumously.
bluesbassman
(19,361 posts)but as it stands this project is destined to be the most egregious example in a long a sorry history of waste coming out of the DoD.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)Hedge the risk of the world's most expensive military getting its ass handed to it in the next war.
bluesbassman
(19,361 posts)but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Goldman-Sachs hasn't already placed their orders.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)hedging strategy, and a proven effective way to arbitrage interest rates of Sovereign Debt bonds traded on the Paris Bourse in the 19th Century.
The larger Wall Street competitors who ate up Rothschild and most of the the City of London banks after World War One have been playing this game of hedging and arbitraging war debts ever since. There are likely third-party tradable derivatives sold on the Chicago Futures Exchange for failure to perform on defense contracts, along with all sorts of similar risks. Grab some now on the F-35 program!
leveymg
(36,418 posts)If I bought a car with a 100,000 mile warranty and the engine broke down after 25,000 miles, I'd expect it to be fixed without charge. If the manufacturer didn't honor the warranty, I'd sue. Why should this be any different?