The grift that keeps on giving and the poor performance across the board of the aircraft and the sticker shock of the high price for that mediocrity. I am going to say out loud: stealth is over-rated, the ea of manned combat aircraft is coming to a close and this particular air-frame is not aging well.
Two Trillion Debt Bucks.
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is the Department of Defense’s most ambitious weapons program and plays a crucial role in DOD’s ability to meet current and future U.S. national security goals. At the same time, the F-35 has been plagued by mounting costs and delays resulting in what some have called a staggering price tag of more than $2 trillion over several decades.
In March, the fighter jet marked an important milestone — “full-rate production,” generally the point when development reaches an acceptable level of performance and reliability to start building more of them, faster. F-35s have already been in production at or near full rate for several years. At the same time, the military services that fly the F-35 (the Air Force, Marines, and Navy) plan to use it less.
That full rate production comes after fifteen years since it entered service in the USAF. No one has been held accountable and no one has been fired.
Projected costs for sustaining the F-35s have continued to rise from $1.1 trillion in 2018 to $1.58 trillion 5 years later (a 44% increase). This increase is in part due to the extension of the service life of the aircraft from 2077 in 2018 to 2088 in 2023.
Like the US Navy Little Crappy Ships (another trillion dollar investment in future fish apartments), these outrageously ludicrous projections of F35s being in service in the last half of he 21st century is silliness of biblical proportions.
Planning to fly the F-35 less. Over the course of the last couple of years, the Air Force and Navy have also reduced their projected annual flying times by 19% and 45% respectively. In part because of this reduction in flying, the services are now projecting they will meet most of their affordability targets. Affordability targets are the amount of money they project they can afford to spend per aircraft per year for operating the aircraft.
Fly the garbage aircraft less to increase its lifespan? Great idea. If they left it on the tarmac like the B1B “Bone” bomber, it will last longer and the decision may be wise due its lack of delivery on real world combat/performance expectations.
Is national bankruptcy the sole solution to stop the malpractice and fiscal bleeding? Stay tuned.
Read the full GAO report.
https://www.gao.gov/blog/f-35-will-now-exceed-2-trillion-military-plans-fly-it-less
Email me at cgpodcast@pm.me
