How do you kill the F-35? You forget the technical and focus on the financial.

via Defense One.

The headline-grabbing $400 billion price tag for developing and buying 2,443 U.S.F-35s is less than half the cost of operating, maintaining, and upgrading all of those jets for the next half-century. In March estimates, various Pentagon offices put the total of those expenses between $859 billion and $1 trillion.

The critics of this program should have taken my advice.

Focus on the financial, not technical aspects of the F-35 if you want to kill it.

What do I mean?  Well here's some inside baseball.  I've talked to many of the critics of the F-35 program.  Unfortunately they're engineers, test pilots...in general they're professionals that have taken a look at this airplane, done simulations on its combat performance, compared it to legacy fighters that were given certain upgrades, kept track of issues (the engine is a topic of interest with this crowd) and I've had my eyes roll back in my head as they head into a forest of info that I couldn't keep up with.

They're wrong and missed the point...brilliance does not always lend itself to the correct answer...financial considerations is the achilles heel of this program.

Threats by Italy to reduce its buy due to its cost.  Canada delaying an announcement because of the planes cost.  Japan and S. Korea buying fewer than hoped because of its cost.  The Netherlands buying some, but again not as many as hoped because of cost.

Now we hear the Pentagon Program Chief making the announcement of block buys in the future and this article from Defense One about the need to "push down" maintenance costs.

The announcement from Kendall isn't a cause for celebration for this plane's supporters, its a indication of increased desperation on their part!

Critics of this airplane have missed an opportunity but its not too late.  Lockheed competitors, critics, and people interested in maintaining the defense of their nations need to focus like a laser on cost.

Educate the public, get Boeing, SAAB and Dassault to do cost comparisons in major defense pubs, write Op-Eds and pound on the cost issue like a thief caught in your home at night.

That's how you kill the F-35.