F-35. The military lost control of the plane's contractors.

via ABC News.

The military's watchdog has found hundreds of flaws in the way giant defense contractors produced the F-35 fighter jet – flaws that made what was already the most expensive weapons system in history even more costly to American taxpayers and flaws that should have been caught by the program's military overseers.
The Department of Defense Inspector General released a 126-page report today describing 719 "issues" it found with the jet's primary manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, and five other major contractors as they assembled planes for the estimated nearly $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. It also listed failures of the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), the military-led organization in charge of putting the planes in the air for three services in the American military, for not ensuring "Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors were applying rigor to design, manufacturing, and quality assurance" among other things. Both Lockheed Martin and the JPO said the report was old news and that the issues have been mostly addressed.
Flaws found on the production line, according to the DOD IG, included "uncontrolled or unapproved" design changes in production planning, contractor personnel who were not following written manufacturing and assembly process instructions, inadequate calibration management systems that could hinder testing and employees with expired certifications for critical tasks like ejection seat installation or "explosives care."

A few things.

*  When you walk onto a truck lot and fall in love with that big F-250 4x4 and the salesman sees it, you can bet that any bargain you might have had is gone...unless you're willing to walk away.
*  Design changes that weren't approved?  Expired certifications?

Lockheed Martin is fleecing the public.  This is beyond criminal...this is insanity on steroids.  Not only is this airplane dragging the Marine Corps budget into an alley and raping it, but its gonna end up killing it too. 

 There is only one solution to the problems with this program... take off and nuke it from orbit.  Its the only way to be sure.... 

An Update from Don.

**"Congress notified that first F-35 jets have cost overruns of $771M. "**See, what they do is award a lo-ball contract, crow about the low contract unit cost (forgetting to tell us it's the airframe only with no GFE engine), then later when nobody's looking reach down into the 'contingency fund' to add the necessary dollars the glutinous F35 really needs.
Here it is again in yesterday's news from the Lockheed/Pentagon/media cabal:"The arrangement calls for 23 F-35As, the Air Force’s version of the plane that takes off in a conventional manner, at $103 million apiece; 6 F-35Bs, the Marine Corps’ variant that can fly like a plane and lands like a helicopter, at $109 million a piece; and 7 F-35Cs, the Navy’s version designed to take off from aircraft carriers, at $120 million apiece."
Actual costs from the FY2014 budget request:--F-35A $176m, F-35B $237m, F-35C $236mhttp://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2014/amendment/fy2014_p1a.pdf