Saturday, July 7, 2012

The Jet that ate the Pentagon

We got rid of the F-22 for this? Foreignpolicy.com reports on the problems and cost overruns associated with the flying piano, oops, I meant the F-35 program:

"This month, we learned that the Pentagon has increased the price tag for the F-35 by another $289 million -- just the latest in a long string of cost increases -- and that the program is expected to account for a whopping 38 percent of Pentagon procurement for defense programs, assuming its cost will grow no more....

How bad is it? A review of the F-35's cost, schedule, and performance -- three essential measures of any Pentagon program -- shows the problems are fundamental and still growing.

First, with regard to cost -- a particularly important factor in what politicians keep saying is an austere defense budget environment -- the F-35 is simply unaffordable. Although the plane was originally billed as a low-cost solution, major cost increases have plagued the program throughout the last decade. Last year, Pentagon leadership told Congress the acquisition price had increased another 16 percent, from $328.3 billion to $379.4 billion for the 2,457 aircraft to be bought. Not to worry, however -- they pledged to finally reverse the growth.

The result? This February, the price increased another 4 percent to $395.7 billion and then even further in April. Don't expect the cost overruns to end there: The test program is only 20 percent complete, the Government Accountability Office has reported, and the toughest tests are yet to come. Overall, the program's cost has grown 75 percent from its original 2001 estimate of $226.5 billion -- and that was for a larger buy of 2,866 aircraft. ...

A final note on expense: The F-35 will actually cost multiples of the $395.7 billion cited above. That is the current estimate only to acquire it, not the full life-cycle cost to operate it. The current appraisal for operations and support is $1.1 trillion -- making for a grand total of $1.5 trillion, or more than the annual GDP of Spain..."


That was the cost problem, now for the design problem:

"President Bill Clinton's Pentagon bogged down the already compromised design concept further by adding the requirement that it should be a multirole aircraft -- both an air-to-air fighter and a bomber. This required more difficult tradeoffs between agility and low weight, and the characteristics of an airframe optimized to carry heavy loads. Clinton-era officials also layered on "stealth," imposing additional aerodynamic shape requirements and maintenance-intensive skin coatings to reduce radar reflections. They also added two separate weapons bays, which increase permanent weight and drag, to hide onboard missiles and bombs from radars. On top of all that, they made it multiservice, requiring still more tradeoffs to accommodate more differing, but exacting, needs of the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. ...

This grotesquely unpromising plan has already resulted in multitudes of problems -- and 80 percent of the flight testing remains. A virtual flying piano, the F-35 lacks the F-16's agility in the air-to-air mode and the F-15E's range and payload in the bombing mode, and it can't even begin to compare to the A-10 at low-altitude close air support for troops engaged in combat. Worse yet, it won't be able to get into the air as often to perform any mission -- or just as importantly, to train pilots -- because its complexity prolongs maintenance and limits availability....
" Rest of article

10 comments:

Pugnacious said...

What tactical purpose would've the F-35 been to AG Collins and Ray Mabus as they lead the Mississippi National Guard into Uganda next year, anyway? The IAI/Grumman Drones of War will fly above the Guard and over the Serengetti and all of Central Africa. Dianne Fosey must be rolling in her grave.

Anonymous said...

If my memory is correct, they canceled the almost-complete A-12 project for the F-22 which was then canceled for the F-35.

Instead of dictating weapons design, Politicians need to trust the Pentagon to develop tools needed to defend this country.

Anonymous said...

Those famous words we all wait to hear,

"I am from the Goverment and am here to help".

When these words are spoken assume the position. Bend over and grab ankles.

Shadowfax said...

Several memorable politicians who have become overnight tactical and design experts are: Stennis, Lott, Cochran. Can Harper be far behind?

Anonymous said...

RINO Greg Harper couldn't even begin to understand
the tactical ground support advantages of a Luftwaffe
Henschel HS 129 or a Junkers JU-87G1

( Even if both aircraft fired a red hot anti-tank round up his butt ).

Anonymous said...

Tax and Spend Gregg is a lifetime member of the NRA

Anonymous said...

Yeah, a National Rhinoceros Association Member.
(The inter-fraternity order of Republican Vaginas)

If you wear a pink tie and cry with the speaker, the RINO's will give you a free ticket to the MSNBC Winter Ice Holiday dinner on December 25th .

bill said...

The defense budget has to include some throw away money for project that don't work out, but this is ridiculous. Let the X-box players from the Air Force send in the drones and bomb the enemy fighters while they're on the ground and we'll be able to squeak by with what we have.

Shadowfax said...

Meanwhile, Hussein Obama is Commander in Chief of America's military and Bennie Thompson was recently one of our top experts on 'Homeland Security'. Therefore, why is it unreasonable to assume Harper might be an emerging military tactical expert?

Anonymous said...

I didn't follow the link to read the rest of the article, so it may mention this. The passage above sounds EXACTLY like the development of the Bradley fighting vehicle, as (humorously) recounted in the HBO movie, "The Pentagon Wars." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ2lO3ieBA



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