F35, The jet that ate the Pentagon

[damnedifIknow]

#t=158&hd=1

The F-35 is the most expensive weapons program in history, with a total cost of $1.5 trillion.

The F-35 program has been plagued by cost overruns and delays, has been grounded twice, and even has been criticized by those within the Pentagon.

The $1.5 trillion that will be spent on this wasteful Pentagon program is an enormous sum. It is equivalent to the cost of the sequester.

Join our broad coalition as we work to build support at the grassroots to pressure our lawmakers to rethink their commitment to this costly weapons program.

http://f35baddeal.com/

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. "The government of my country snubs honest simplicity, but fondles artistic villainy,

"The government of my country snubs honest simplicity, but fondles artistic villainy, and I think I might have developed into a very capable pickpocket if I had remained in the public service a year or two." Mark Twain

[BeyondGeography]

2. "Defense is a lousy engine for jobs."

On top of all the other monumental waste.

Highly rec'd.

[KeepItReal]

3. Test Pilots: Stealth Jet’s Blind Spot Will Get It ‘Gunned Every Time’

“Aft visibility could turn out to be a significant problem for all F-35 pilots in the future,” the Pentagon acknowledged in a report obtained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group.

That admission should not come as a surprise to observers of the Joint Strike Fighter program. Critics of the delayed, over-budget F-35 — which is built in three versions for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps — have been trying for years to draw attention to the plane’s blind spot, only to be dismissed by the government and Lockheed Martin, the Joint Strike Fighter’s primary builder.

The damning report, dated Feb. 15, summarized the experiences of four test pilots who flew the F-35A — the relatively lightweight Air Force version — during a September-to-November trial run of the Joint Strike Fighter’s planned training program at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The report mentions a number of shortfalls of the highly complex F-35, including sensors, communications and aerial refueling gear that aren’t yet fully designed or just don’t work right.

No aspect of the report is more damning than the pilots’ critiques of the F-35?s rearward visibility. “All four student pilots commented on the out-of-cockpit visibility of the F-35, an issue which not only adversely affects training, but safety and survivability as well,” the report states. The Joint Strike Fighter is a stealth plane designed to avoid detection by radar, but if it ends up in a short-range dogfight, a distinct possibility even in this high-tech age, it’s the pilot’s eyes that matter most.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/03/f-35-blind-spot/

[hunter]

4. It did what it supposed to do -- it transfered tax dollars into the accounts of wealthy people...

... and financed the political campaigns of their minions.

[jsr]

10. +1

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Well,now we are getting to the real truth.

Thirty years ago most of our Fighter planes came out of California. When Regan messed up the country,the Pukes seen their money bag for the future. Suddenly,all of these so called contracts were spread around to various districts as jobs programs. Duh,in Rethug leaning or Right to Work for less states. You killed off the Union(Dem)votes,you pitted the haves against the have not,and in the mean time,walla,possible Rethug majority in D.C..

Notice were the F-35 repair base is,Roy Udah. Home of the Reddest of the Reddest place on earth. Hatch and Lee were able to save 4900 jobs. Mostly members of the 10% club.

[bpj62]

6. Nascar Mirror

Just out one of the big mirrors that all Nascar drivers have and bingo the blind spot will be gone. In reality you have plane that is to proficient for its pilots, you also have a plane that the Navy does not want and yet it is being forced on them. We have the F-22 which only the Air Force currently uses and they have had trouble with it as well. The plane is a technological wonder but it is truly a boondoggle for the Military brass. As a prior poster said somebody has to make money.

[damnedifIknow]

7. And then there's this

Russia’s Stealth Fighter Could Outfly, Outshoot American Jets


T-50 is fast, long-ranged and has fearsome new weapons

Since its public debut four years ago, Russia’s first stealth fighter has quietly undergone diligent testing, slowly expanding its flight envelope and steadily working out technical kinks. But for all this hard work there have been precious few indications just how many copies of the Sukhoi T-50 Moscow plans to build … and how it means to use them.

Until now.

Fresh reporting from Aviation Week’s Bill Sweetman, one of the world’s top aerospace writers, offers tantalizing hints regarding Moscow’s intentions for the big, twin-engine T-50, an answer to America’s F-22 stealth fighter.

If Sweetman is correct—and he usually is—the angular warplane with the 50-foot wingspan could be bought in small numbers and used as a sort of airborne sniper, elusively flying high and fast to take down enemy radars and support planes using powerful, long-range missiles."

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/9edbae7da1ee

[Blue_Tires]

8. It's the total sum of the worst "guaranteed to lose $$$" business wisdoms:

1. Trying to be 'all things to all people', and instead of being versatile and modular your product is mediocre at everything

2. Try answering the question nobody asked

3. Talk big, deliver little

4. "We've spent too much on the project to turn back now! All we need is to invest in better shovels to dig the money pit more efficiently!"


Howard Hughes would have been proud...It's like the board at Lockheed got supplanted by the mooks running General Motors in the 1980s...

[Pretzel_Warrior]

9. Is anyone here familiar with the term "sunk cost"?

Just curious.

[progressoid]

11. It's not eating the Pentagon, it's eating us.