A comment made today...
Sgt C said... Kudos to LM if they can keep the plane in the 60-70m range. There would be no reason for anyone who could buy a JSF to buy anything else. Why buy a Yugo when you can get a Corvette for the same amount of money?
USN reluctance and those wild operational cost numbers that came out are pure F18/Boeing mafia. They're pretty entrenched at NAVAIR.
However, don't think that LM is keeping costs in line out the generosity of its Corporate heart. Public scrutiny of JSF (and many defense contracts in general) have them putting the screws to costs. Which is the way it's supposed to work, I believe.
Saw two BF's fly today. Maybe they will make their goals this year. It would be nice to be wrong in this case.
His statement gave me this wild thought. Without Air Power Australia sounding the alarm (most of the time falsely)...without the criticism from the many critics out there...without the breach....the F-35 program would have probably failed without hope of resurrection.
But because of the early and often fire/brimstone thrown at the program....
Policy makers and Lockheed Martin got a heads up that they needed to make changes---and to do it now.
The irony of the situation is this. The people that sought to kill the F-35 might in the end have saved it...they did not allow the builder or the government to be lulled into a sense that all was well.
This is beyond delicious!
