The F-35 tells everything that's broken in the Pentagon

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

It's official: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a "rathole" of taxpayer money, something defense experts already knew - at least those without dubious ties to the military industrial blob. Now the House Armed Services Committee chairman has joined the ranks of the outraged, saying that when he thinks about the F-35, he thinks about "failure on a massive freaking scale."

The F-35 is an allegory for everything that's broken in our Department of Defense, which receives more money than the rest of the federal interagency, combined. In fact, we spend more on our armed forces than the next 10 biggest militaries in the world, combined. What are we getting for our tax dollars? Unfortunately, the F-35.

Budgets are moral documents because they do not lie. The F-35 is the most expensive weapon in history, with a projected lifetime cost of $1.7 trillion. That's more than Russia's GDP, all spent on a single-seat plane. In fact, if this aircraft were a country, its GDP would rank 11th in the world, ahead of Saudi Arabia. Buying one costs around $110 million a copy, nearly double the price of a Boeing 737-600 airliner. F-35s are also expensive to fly. Each hour in the air costs $44,000, more than twice the cost of the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18 Super Hornet.

The irrationality of the F-35 goes beyond the price tag - the plane is superfluous. It was devised as a flying Swiss Army knife that could meet the needs of the Air Force, Navy, Marines and Army. Instead, it proves the adage that a camel is a horse designed by committee. It is true that the F-35 can engage in dogfights, drop bombs and spy - just not well. Older aircraft remain better than F-35s at all these tasks. Dedicated bombers can fly farther with larger payloads. The A-10 Thunderbolt, an aircraft introduced in 1977, is better at ground support missions.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-f-35-tells-everything-thats-broken-in-the-pentagon/ar-BB1euy6F?li=BBnb7Kz

[underpants]

1. 👀

Reading later.

[keithbvadu2]

2. The planning for the manufacture of the F-35 was ingenious.

The planning for the manufacture of the F-35 was ingenious.

They spread the jobs around many, many Congressional districts.

[zipplewrath]

3. Unfortunately

It is true that the F-35 can engage in dogfights, drop bombs and spy - just not well. Older aircraft remain better than F-35s at all these tasks.

Unfortunately, just like under the Kennedy administration and McNamara, this is a repetitive attempt to "save" money. It is considered a "savings" to make a one size fits all aircraft. The FB-111 was one of the first attempts at this. The Russians always took the approach of "cheap and numerous". The US on the other hand has always taken the approach of "superior firepower". The Russians were willing to trade the lives of the pilots for cost savings. The US has always wanted to be able to send pilots on missions with low risks. The F-35 is a superior aircraft "overall". But to achieve this, a standard for performance was set that couldn't be met. Even though it is superior, it didn't meet the unreasonable expectations. Which leaves the program in a difficult position. Do they admit failure, or do they continue to work to try to reach all the standards that were set. There's not alot of incentive for the military and Pentagon personnel to scrap their goals. For one thing, it is probably the last manned fighter plane that the US will create. But it is also true that the capabilities they are trying to achieve will help the pilots survive evermore risky missions, and enable the US to execute missions in the future that they currently are loath to try.

The F-35 will be with us for decades. And regardless of the choices we make now, we will continue to try to adapt and improve the plane in the future. The real question is what do we continue to try to achieve now, and what do we put off until future modifications and improvements. The F-16 was coming on line 40 years ago, and is still in use today. The F-22 is still in use and will be for years to come. The F-35 will be no different.

[machoneman]

4. F-35's to control an air fleet of drones. Problem solved!

[msongs]

5. think ofwhat we could have had that are liked by democratic socialists nt

[Irish_Dem]

6. The military industrial complex in action. Who got rich?

Who made money?
What retired military officers double dipped as contractors?
What generals made money?