I'm pretty sure it's self inflicted...what is EU designed to replace the eurocanards?
JSFfan,
I realize my statement is very black and white (it's the internet therefore,...) and that is not solely LM who is to blame, our politicians and their disdain of most things military and a large part of the population that just cares too little about defense matters have done nothing good for our defense budget and how the money is spent.
I would love to see us spending at least 2-2.5% of GDP on defense like agreed upon by most NATO partner nations.
However, now we have come to a point that we don't even get the technological and monetary feedback any more, we used to get from programs like the F16 before, now we just write a check , get a token contractor-deal making large volume but mostly low tech parts (forget about making something like Carapace or something similar), and are basically committed to it for the next 30-40 years no matter what upgrades, future unforeseen maintenance issues, or specific new weapons or new system integrations are going to cost us (price- time and politically wise).
The F35 will eventually work just fine, I'm sure about that, I have great confidence in the engineering prowess of the designers, workers, pilots and engineers involved.
This will change nothing about the facts that it is way too expensive and...
-very heavy, no follow up for what are basically LWF's like the F16 and 18 or M2000
-very bulky and aerodynamically challenged (yes I know it can carry some of its ordnance inside) , the ability to get away heroically and quickly from the battlefield once the bombs are dropped and the missiles are gone is not of insignificant importance.
The JSF is a pig going into the fight ,like almost all other platforms will be too, but unlike the others it will still be a pig going home which could be very problematic if you're operating in contested airspace.
-a big big engine that is therefore also very thirsty, noisy and expensive to replace/maintain if necessary, fuel cost money too you know.
- the best part, its sensor suite (EO DAS) is suitable for many/most other fighters acc to Northrop anyway.
About your remark about the Eurocanards, that's just pure BS, you might as well ask why the US isn't already working on anything more than just a concept to replace their F22's (same timeframe).
the Rafale and EF have the biggest part of their life in front of them and are very relevant, certainly if a partnership of nations decides to buy them in sufficient numbers and contractually demand system upgrades and development in the future.
The Gripen NG is an equivalent of the Hornet saga, a good idea evolving into its own follow up, almost entirely a new plane, new airframe, larger wings, new engines , new avionics/sensors, etc... .
I ask you, where do you think most state of the art weapon systems come from besides the US? China? Russia? anywhere else? I don't think so !
Besides our American friends, only our European companies have shown the ability to design, develop and build large complex state of the art large weapon systems
We might not spend enough of our money on defense but we still manage to make cutting edge system.
Granted we also have our fair share of failures ,A400M, although that looks better and better lately and the needless NH90 (what does it deliver that the Blackhawk cannot?) but we also have perfectly good systems ,Gripen, many ships and subs, A330MRTT, RAFALE, and even the Typhoon which is a fantastic fighter notwithstanding all of its development problems, and many many more ... .