This post is a compilation of many.
The Military Industrial Complex massive fail
Floating F35 massive fail. But its only $36 Billion.
Fat slow plane gets fatter and slower.
Canada pushes the reset button. But there is still a lot of unanswered questions. The DND insists the price per plane is only $87 million, but the US DND has now pegged it at $135 million. Thats if every plane everyone on the planet every dreamed about getting is purchased. That is highly unlikely the US at best will take 1000 instead of 3000.
Does anyone believe the open competition for a new fighter will not have the Government cheerleading and misleading in order to see the F35 selected? Over at the mound of sound reasoned speculation that if there is a fly off like Canada conducted to pick the CF18 the F35 will not even show up. The reason being it would be so badly embarrassed by a competition in the sky vs talking points, Lockheed would never do it.
Update Dec 18 2012
The disinformation campaign is in full bafflegab mode.
Update Nov 28, 2012. The cost has ballooned to $400 Billion dollar just for purchase. Not including the enormous cost to maintain these hanger princesses. New Radars are already deployed that negates the stealth advantage. The actual planes cant do what the computer predicted. No one knows if the millions of lines of code needed to make this plane operate can ever be cleaned up. Best case instead of 3000 planes, 2000 will be purchased. What that means is the development cost applied to every plane just went up 33%. The cost now is pegged at $137 million per plane and soaring.
Update Sept 25, 2011. CF18 pilots have had to shut down one engine more than 200 times. In the F35 that would be 200 crashes.
Updated March 16, 2012, F35 on deathwatch in Canada. In the USA may live on as the Zombie Fighter from Hell.
Wall Street Journal has revealed the full lifetime cost of maintenance for the F35 will be $1.35 Trillion.(not including $335 Billion cost of planes) Compared to an F16 or F18 it will cost 33% more according to Pentagon estimates. The real cost God only knows. By comparison the Moon landing cost $164 Billion and the US superhighway network $213 Billion. It’s worth considering the guns or butter argument, especially when the F35 is in the eyes of those without a dog in this hunt a complete turkey. It is an updated F105 lead sled. At Ausairpower they make a compelling case for buying a Eurofighter instead. For countries like Canada the cheapest option would be to zero hour the existing F18.
The F35 program may be the jump the shark moment for the Pentagon and the Military Industrial complex. Not only is the plane unaffordable it’s not a good plane. When congress really looks at what could be accomplished with a tiny portion of this expense it may change the world. For countries like Canada we face the ruination of our defense budget to support a plane we don’t need.
Pierre Sprey
Update from the Galloping Beaver. It seems Stealth as predicted is not a long term thing. Now the full article in Wired covers its asp, but the implication is clear, Stealth will be defeated before the planes are actually deployed. What do you say now Pete?
Update from Mound of Sound, Harpers Canada, Americas sharp end of the spear.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/plenty-of-blame-to-go-around-for-disappearing-warship/
http://www.economist.com/node/18958487
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/10/23/canadas-first-f-35-jets-wont-have-ability-to-communicate-in-arctic_n_1027335.html
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/senators-love-stealth-jet/
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/jsf-test/
March 22, 2012 Massive Fail
http://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.ca/2012/04/f-35-killer-is-already-airborne.html
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com.au/p/f-35-reading-list.html
I rail against the tribute the F35 represents.
First the F35 was never meant to be an air superiority vehicle. Its primary task was as strike bomber, whose role is to sneak up on targets under the air superiority cover of the F22. When the F22 became to big an expense to not fail, the F35 suddenly became this magical Swiss army knife of aeronautical impossibilities.
All I know is that someone has launched a Lockheed Martin propaganda strike at the US treasury, and has the skill and influence to use the 60 minutes brand. Leaving many viewers shaking their heads at what has become of what used to be institutions.
Turkey in the air, Princess in the hanger.
I am calling Bullshit on a couple of prime suspect: The F35 and the Bunker Busting Bombs
No matter how much money you ferret at high velocity to slippery winged people one can not change physics.
Gold Plated High Speed Rail or the F35?
Duh, the princess in the hanger, turkey in the sky F35 looks like its ours at a price of $40 to $50 Billion. What a waste of our precious tax dollars. We could have the worlds greatest high speed rail from Windsor to Quebec city for about $30 Billion, and it would be a revenue stream. Not a flunky pisshole.
Canada can not find enough fighter pilots
Top ten reasons RCAF uses Temporary Foreign Pilots
1) Canadians do not apply because they want to bond with their Children
2) Canadians don't apply because Gen X wants to skip pilot and go straight to astronaut.
3) ISIS airforce has better veteran care so they are getting all the top guns.
4) Canadians are smart they know the F35 only has one engine and do not want to die from engine failure.
5)Harper can fool them into thinking he is commander in chief.
6)Canadians wont go to Cold Lake Alberta
7) Polish and Hungarian Pilots hate Russia without propaganda.
8) Canadian pilots are too polite.
9) Canadian pilots always say EH instead of Rodger and it drives the Americans nuts.
10) Canadian pilot candidates worry they might end up working for Air Canada.
Littoral Ships Fail
A great darkness full of piss
So major phama dictates
where the failed F35
will be deployed
and the damage
that will not be done
t0 the Emmery
will end up in civil
court
lick a clASS
action for attentiveness
assholes
that in the next phase
will be separated
from life
That's harsh
but sometimes
killing people
proves we are smart.
What a bunch of bullocks
as the English would agree
killing on man for purpose
brings down on you positron
the whole family tree.
These are not people from Ferguson
they have not lost a single flawed soldier
they have lost a piece of humanity
which now the sun dictates
the angle of the drone
that willl blow them
apart.
The drone did it
no a human
so no re come it
everyday what
you might acknowledge
no matter how smart
this is part of your
backpack.
