Actually some pretty good points in there, especially about flawed requirements, the true costs & "IOC" we have been slogging about in this thread. I do believe the "hurry up and buy more of these things" is a pretty big ploy to get firmly past the "too big to fail threshold". But if anyone can rock the corporate world, it seems President elect Trump has and will. Must be some long nights in some corporate board rooms....

[Conspiracy hat on] But will the military/industrial complex allow him to interfere...[/Conspiracy hat off] :eek: :suspect:

In case you didn't notice, National Review made a concerted effort to prevent Trump from being elected President. The F-35 aircraft models are also far more capable than media reports suggest.

I know, the neocons loath him, that's partially the point. Not only do you have Trump railing against the F-35, now you have those politically opposite him as well. The F-35 is starting to run out of friends.

I know you'd like to think that ORAC but nearly every fighter program in history has been derided at the time.

It'll pass...keep jogging.

10 Days and counting.

I don't think he'll ****can the ENTIRE F35 program mind....

Just the really useless variant [s]...:E

I don't think so.

For further reading, see The Pentagon Paradox which was an attempt to excoriate the F-18 program. The Hornet survived and has done well enough. I read that book a couple of years after it came out. An interesting read, in particular its critique of the acquisition process.

That process hasn't gotten much better over the years, as entwined as it is in politics and spreading out federal funds to many districts. F-35, IIRC, has production among contractors and subs in over 100 districts. I am pretty sure that this was a deliberate decision at least on the Congressional side. A little something for everyone, more or less - everyone gets a share. (Milo Minderbender, Catch-22).

I don't think so either. This was a political program set up by Congress with the intent to generate jobs across the entire US with little attention paid to logistics of such a complicated product. So now, you have in place a Party (Republican) and a elected President (Trump) who ran heavily on jobs, job creation, not job elimination. Unless the program turns into an unmitigated disaster (it isn't), nothing is going to knock the F-35 program off the tracks as there are no programs generating jobs to compare to the F-35 program on the horizon. Regardless of what Trump blusters about, a reminder of his job creation mantra by Congressional folks will overcome his negative F-35 program Tweets and he will move onto something else...

Lord LuvAduck spews 62 pages about the F-35 - Gilmore needs an ANTIdote - but hey:

http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/...2016f35jsf.pdf (0.9Mb)

Do I need to quote anything? Youse knows it all already so no cutee/pastie.

First F-35B Squadron Moves to Japan

WASHINGTON — A Marine Corps F-35B squadron has transferred from the United States to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, marking the first permanent international deployment of the joint strike fighter, the service announced Tuesday.

Marine Corps spokesman Capt Kurt Stahl told Defense News that 10 F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) departed Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona on Monday, with the first jets slated to arrive in Japan on Wednesday. All 10 F-35s will arrive at Iwakuni by Thursday. Eventually, an additional six jets will be relocated from Yuma to Iwakuni, bringing the squadron up to a full 16 aircraft. VMFA-121 is a part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.........

:hmm::hmm:

You mean the Director of the Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate of the United States Department of Defense annual report to Congress on the F-35 program? :hmm:

Gotta give you credit 'ORAC' - you are sharp.

Since you were making an as hominem attack on the gentleman in question - plus making a preemptive attempt to stop discussion of this year's paper I consider d it need to be said.

It obviously got under your skin - must contain some seriously adverse comment on the program. Obviously worth everyone reading and discussing.

......The Defense Department’s F-35 program office “has no plan to adequately fix and verify hundreds of these deficiencies using flight testing within its currently planned schedule and resources,” Gilmore wrote. Deploying F-35s “with capable mission systems is critical to our national security,” but the program now “is at high risk of sacrificing essential combat performance,” he added..........

Quote:

---

within its currently planned schedule and resources,”

---

This appears to be code for "{the program says} give us more money to get those tests done in a more timely manner." ORAC, is that how it came across to you?


I think most of us are aware that full mission systems testing can get expensive.

And therefore can be "offset" until operational use throws up "issues"?

par for the "program"...

When it fails to meet the specification, it's not our fault, you should have given us more money.

When it proves unable to perform essential operational tasks, it's not our fault and it's to late now, so change the spec to meet what you've got.

Did we say it's not our fault and we need more money?

"Did we say it's not our fault and we need more money?"

"Or else"....

Shares of Lockheed Martin, the maker of the F-35 fighter jet, are falling after President-elect Donald Trump attacked the cost of the program during his press conference on Wednesday.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/lockhe...17-1?r=US&IR=T

SHOCK!! HORROR!! SURPRISE!!

Who'da thunk or forecast it........ :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:



F-35 delayed — again — despite CEO's promise to Trump

The F-35 will be delayed an additional seven months at a cost of at least $500 million despite a recent promise from Lockheed Martin's CEO to drive down costs, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Tuesday.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in a statement, said the CEO's personal promise to President-elect Trump was "surprising" given a letter he received from the Pentagon last month detailing the latest delay. "This is yet another troubling sign for a program that has already nearly doubled in cost, taken nearly two decades to field, and has long been the poster child for acquisition malpractice," McCain said.

After trashing the program's rising costs on Twitter, Trump met with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson in late December, when she offered her "personal commitment" to "aggressively" drive down the cost of the most expensive acquisition project ever undertaken by the Pentagon. But if she intends to do that, McCain said she had better be ready to explain how. "If Lockheed Martin believes it is possible to aggressively drive down the cost of the F-35, it is time for the company to reveal its plans to do so to the Congress and to American taxpayers," he said.

The seven-month delay means the system development and demonstration phase of the program won't be completed until May 2018, according to a letter Frank Kendall, the acquisition, technology and logistics undersecretary, sent to McCain. McCain said the delay just shows the need to further reform the acquisition process, something he intends to focus on as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Ref
http://www.npr.org/2017/01/11/509137239/watch-live-trump-holds-first-press-conference-as-president-elect


"I'm very much involved with the generals and admirals on the airplane, the F-35 you’ve been reading about it.

And it’s way, way behind schedule and many billions of dollars over budget.

I don't like that.


And the admirals have been fantastic. The generals have been fantastic. I've really gotten to know them well.


And we’re going to do some big things on the F-35 program and perhaps the F-18 program.



And we’re going to get those costs way down, and we’re gonna get the plane to be even better and we’re going to have to some competition.


And it’s going to be a beautiful thing. "


Wow never realised the Donald was a hippy at heart...man..