Elements of Power has a guest post over at Op-For today.
Quite honestly I won't link to it because its disgusting to me. He attacks David Axe and calls his work Punk Journalism.
I have to temper my anger a bit because I did the same when I was under the power of the F-35 and believed the lies from the Program Office and Lockheed Martin.
But enough time has passed and enough evidence----just on cost factors alone---been compiled for someone as knowledgeable as EOP to know better.
The fact that he remains unmoved in light of readily available evidence makes me wonder who this guy works for. Is he receiving a stipend from LM?
What's his deal?
Elements of Power, you're cool but you jumped the fucking shark bro!
Back the fuck off, send a note to Axe, fix your shit and get your brain housing group cleaned out....you went waaay too far on this one.
Quite honestly I won't link to it because its disgusting to me. He attacks David Axe and calls his work Punk Journalism.
I have to temper my anger a bit because I did the same when I was under the power of the F-35 and believed the lies from the Program Office and Lockheed Martin.
But enough time has passed and enough evidence----just on cost factors alone---been compiled for someone as knowledgeable as EOP to know better.
The fact that he remains unmoved in light of readily available evidence makes me wonder who this guy works for. Is he receiving a stipend from LM?
What's his deal?
Elements of Power, you're cool but you jumped the fucking shark bro!
Back the fuck off, send a note to Axe, fix your shit and get your brain housing group cleaned out....you went waaay too far on this one.
EOP jumped all over one of my works too, but he spelled my name correctly so it's an honor.
ReplyDeleteLook, the current F-35 fleet are prototypes, built on a slow scale (LRIP) to provide planes for engineering tests, and later operational tests. They are fifty per cent through the test flight program (five years behind schedule) with the more rigorous tests to come.
There are a lot of problems with the F-35. General Bogdan has mentioned some of them:
---Software is still the single biggest concern for the F-35 program [odd days]
--My number-one concern is affordability [even days]
--There are pieces and parts of this airplane that are simply breaking too much. When they break and we take them off the airplane, getting them repaired takes too long. etc.
In spite of this situation, there are many observers claiming that the F-35 is ready for prime time, that in effect a Milestone C production decision should be made now instead of April 2019 as scheduled, that production should be ramped up, that foreign customers should purchase some of these crappy prototypes.
So we realists go to the blogs and point out all the problems with this program that aren't being properly recognized. And the response is: Oh, they're just prototypes, every program has these problems, everything will be fixed -- so why worry? Look, he said this widget is bad but it really isn't, blah blah. Now that's "punk journalism."
We worry because this is in fact the most expensive acquisition program in history, let's not quarrel about the exact numbers, it is a program that because of budget pressure is hurting many other important programs, and it is a program that isn't capable of producing working genuine production planes for at least five more years, if ever. Especially that's true for the carrier variant.
Most importantly it is a program characterized by acquisition malpractice, as Frank Kendall has said, particularly producing planes before test and evaluation is complete, and therefore there shouldn't be any more acquisition until the tests are complete.
Shut it down.
Just about all previous jet fighters have had problems, PW engines for F15s, very light DAY fighter for the original F16, F111 was over budget,late,heavy,etc....pretty much all of the US fighter programs started life in a rocky fashion BUT the big freaking difference this time is that we have nothing else but the F35!
ReplyDeleteF15/16 are pretty much at the end of their lives and we don't have a concurrent program that comes close to the F35. USAF put all it's eggs in one basket and ONE MANUFACTURER and they better hope nothing else bad happens to JSF program......
Here's one solution: let the Navy out of the program, and allow them to use their procurement funds to buy Super Hornets, and immediately start development of a long range F/A-XX / NGAD. The USAF and the USMC can continue to acquire F-35s as their budgets allow, noting that the USAF will continue to operate F-15/16s for decades to come. When the NGAD is ready, the USAF can choose whether to continue with F-35, or adopt it to replace the remaining F-15s. As for the Marines, I'm not sure that they will be able to afford 340 $150M F-35Bs, particularly when its sustainment costs will add another $300M per unit over its service life. By sticking with F-35, they run the risk of pricing themselves out of fixed wing aviation.
Deletethats the real worry for the USMC. not only is it killing current budgets but it will decimate future ones as well.
Deletewe will have two squadrons of F-35s and NOTHING else.
The gentleman who runs the EOP blog certainly has a hard time with numbers.
ReplyDeleteGentleman is a stretch.
Deletethis came out of the blue though. he was always a supporter but i really thought that if facts changed his opinion would too.
Deletethis guy is a career Air Force guy, has a son in the Marine Corps and yet he continues to ignore what this one airplane is doing to the entire defense structure.
i don't know what is going on but there is alot going on here that we can't see. i'd almost bet that he landed on LM's payroll somehow.
thats the only thing that makes sense.
He's anonymous but yet he attacked my surname, for god's sake, a sign of a loser burdened by a losing argument. I love it.
DeleteHere's a graph of the funding for the top 15 Acquisition Programs.
ReplyDeleteThe winner -- F-35!
The losers -- us!
Sol when it comes to things naval and ships, David Axe is a landlubber idiot.
ReplyDeleteHis post on the MSV was a rip off of others and he had errors in EVERY paragraph.
just my 2 cents~
ideas float all around .... between stuff i've gotten from USMC 0802, American Mercenary, Naval Matters, YOU!, Goon, ELP Blog, and several other people i'm forgetting (no offense), but i seriously wonder if anyone has a truly original thought.
Deletea bunch of people (thank God!) are thinking about these issues and we all conversate either formally or informally.
i try and credit people that bring stuff to my attention but i would be willing to bet that MANY MANY MANY times people say to themselves after visiting here that they thought of it first.
as far as errors both factual and grammatical...well i can't even begin to toss stones. no one else should either.
mistakes are made on every page at one time or the other.
that's the price of doing business.
but the thing with the Axe is issue is much simpler. he did to Axe what i did to Sweetman but in a much more vicious way.
i attacked Sweetman as being the "DARK LORD" and played with it by theming it up as him being the leader of the evil empire (the anti-F35) faction.
EOP attacked the guys journalistic credentials.
THATS OUT OF BOUNDS. i seriously wonder if he's on the LM payroll, because thats not the guy i conversated with.
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ReplyDeleteThis is all pretty easy. If the F-35 program was doing well, critics would have no credibility. Interesting is that those that have looked at the program dispassionately (with the odd sick joke), are trending better on program predictions than those with all the alleged special access. Around about the time of ALLIED FORCE 1999, I thought this thing was a great idea. As time went on, there were, and still are, serious warning signs. That get worse. About once a year for a few days, I take time out to be an F-35 advocate and work out all the issues. It never works out. The chart I always reference showing a 2003 slide of the plan, gets uglier. Day by day. In the end, none of this is amusing.
ReplyDelete