Do you still want the F-35?

[mrklean]

There's a huge fight brewing in Canada over the F-35, a new fighter plane of which Canada promised to buy 65 a couple of years back, and which now looks like it's going to cost our nice northern neighbors somewhere north of $46 billion over the life of the airplanes. This has caused the Canadians to get a good close look at the lunatic way our defense industries operate down here and, as is also the case when they look at the way we deliver health care, the Canadians think we're all out of our minds, and that we've played them for suckers. They are, of course, correct on both counts.


There is no point for Canadians to ask why the aircraft Ottawa apparently committed to buy in 2010 is turning out to be much more expensive, and taking far longer to develop, than first projected. The answers to those questions can only be found south of the border where defence [sic] contracts have long had a way of ballooning way out of control. The questions for Canadians is: Why did Canada simply take the U.S. Defense Department's word that the plane would do all it was supposed to do at the cost that was then quoted?



Not to put too fine a point on it, but the F-35 is an epic lemon even by our standards for defense-related boondoggles, which are epic in and of themselves. It is also our first trillion-dollar defense system. These two things are not coincidental.


Yet, when the F-35 was first conceived, there was (and is) no real "enemy" out there that it could possibly be used against. State to state conventional war among major powers - the only kind which can afford jets like these - is simply inconceivable today. So when the U.S. military was asked to dream up its requirements for a "fifth" generation fighter, it simply decided to have everything it could for any possibility that might arise. It was to be the flying version of the deluxe Swiss Army Knife.





We Recommend

Ed Markey And How Your Car May Be A Spy

The sheer magnitude of the boondoggle in question may just be dawning in Canada, but it's been percolating down here for some time.


The F-35 program has had a troubled history. In 2010 the Pentagon disclosed that delays and cost overruns had resulted in a cost per aircraft that exceeded the original contract by 50 percent. Defense Secretary Robert Gates informed Congress of another 13 month production delay and budget increase of $3 billion. A 2011 Pentagon study cited 13 major problems. The F-35 integrated power package was described as unreliable and difficult to service. There were safety concerns about lightning protection and thermal management, as well as possible fire hazards in the fuel dump system. The study also revealed that the airframe was unlikely to last through the lifespan of the aircraft. If the F-35 were indispensable to the country's future security, cost considerations would properly take a back seat, but that is not the case. A Foreign Policy magazine survey of 76 top military experts in 2012 revealed that 26 of them rated the F-35 program as the top candidate for immediate elimination.




And, of course, it is nowhere close to being eliminated at all, even though, in one of the truly remarkable quotes of the year, an aviation expert named John Arquilla pointed out,


"We have had only one fighter shot down by an enemy fighter jet in the last 40 years. We simply don't need to spend over a trillion dollars on a new fighter at this point."

Maybe after Nick Kristof gets done running to ground those poor Appalachian children who are gaming the SSI system rather than joining the military where they belong, he can get right on this. And, in Washington, we're arguing about what we're going to do to people on Medicare so the richest people in this country can kick in the money they found on top of the chiffarobe. Calling this madness is to insult the insane

[houndawg]

There's a lot of people counting on the F-35 welfare program. Fighters won't need pilots at all in a short time. Right now the pilot is the limiting factor in a fighters performance

[YoUDeeMan]

There's a lot of people counting on the F-35 welfare program. Fighters won't need pilots at all in a short time. Right now the pilot is the limiting factor in a fighters performance

Wow, houndpuppy posted something worthwhile and accurate.

Amazing.

[houndawg]

There's a lot of people counting on the F-35 welfare program. Fighters won't need pilots at all in a short time. Right now the pilot is the limiting factor in a fighters performance

Wow, houndpuppy posted something worthwhile and accurate.

Amazing.

I kept the words short for you.

[Ibanez]

There's a lot of people counting on the F-35 welfare program. Fighters won't need pilots at all in a short time. Right now the pilot is the limiting factor in a fighters performance

F-35 is the tip of the iceberg.

[CID1990]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

[AZGrizFan]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

I assume these are rhetorical questions....

[mrklean]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

[CID1990]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

Yes, Kleak.

But it isn't taxpayer dollars. It's an IOU in yuan.

[ASUG8]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

What do you want to do now? Bail out of the whole program with a handful of jets and billions in sunk R&D cost? I'd have stuck with the F-22 and refined it before embarking on the JSF, but that's just me.

The F-35 is by no means perfect, but rather a perfect example of a fighter jet panacea for every "partner".

[DSUrocks07]

The strengthening dollar doesn't help costs as much either, when it comes to international orders. Maybe Boeing and Lockheed should move operations to Europe and make bank of exports to the US

[YoUDeeMan]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

Yes, CID, since kkklean posted, you should answer the fvcking retard.

[DSUrocks07]

As I said before, the F-35 is fun to fly in Ace Combat. But even in that game its abilities were limited. The F-22 is still the better air superiority fighter, so next-gen this ain't.

[Ibanez]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

Answer the retard? That doesn't make any since.


And piece of shit fighter? It may have a lot of program issues but it's going to be badass. It'll kill targets before it launches off the deck.

[Brock Landers]

"We have had only one fighter shot down by an enemy fighter jet in the last 40 years. "

Well I hope that guy is proud of himself

[CID1990]

"We have had only one fighter shot down by an enemy fighter jet in the last 40 years. "

Well I hope that guy is proud of himself

I'm actually trying to figure out what shoot down that was. It was post Vietnam, and it was air to air. Anybody know?

[Brock Landers]

Wait, I remember. The F15 that leapt in front of a missile for Air Force One and Harrison Ford. I take it back.

[93henfan]

Well I hope that guy is proud of himself

I'm actually trying to figure out what shoot down that was. It was post Vietnam, and it was air to air. Anybody know?

Speicher.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Is it just me or did Kleak's grammar and spelling improve a little?


Or did he just copy and paste something?

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

Yes, I would rather spend money on the military, than the freeloader welfare co*ksuckers in this country.

[mrklean]

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

Yes, I would rather spend money on the military, than the freeloader welfare co*ksuckers in this country.

So you feels its ok to equip our young men and women with substandard weapons

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

[mrklean]

Answer the fvcking retard!
Do you still want spend tax payers dollars on this piece of shyt fighter?

Yes, I would rather spend money on the military, than the freeloader welfare co*ksuckers in this country.

And which COOCK SUCKERS are you referring too? We have a lot of "THEM" sucking on the government nipple.

[Ibanez]

Yes, I would rather spend money on the military, than the freeloader welfare co*ksuckers in this country.

So you feels its ok to equip our young men and women with substandard weapons

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Says the guy that wants to use 30-40 yr old planes.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Nothing we do is sub standard

[houndawg]

Well I hope that guy is proud of himself

I'm actually trying to figure out what shoot down that was. It was post Vietnam, and it was air to air. Anybody know?

Kosovo?

[93henfan]

I'm actually trying to figure out what shoot down that was. It was post Vietnam, and it was air to air. Anybody know?

Kosovo?

I already told him it was Speicher. Hornet downed by Foxbat. Confirmed by his wingman after declassification. West of Baghdad. First night of Desert Storm. First man down, last bones found.