F-35 ready? It comes back to credibility/integrity...are our leaders credible?

Thanks to Ted for the link!

via Bloomberg.

While the exercise on the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp resulted in useful training for Marines and Navy personnel, Gilmore wrote in the assessment dated July 22, it also documented that “shipboard reliability” and maintenance “were likely to present significant near-term challenges.”

In the assessment submitted to Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, Gilmore said “Marine maintainers had rapid, ready access to spare parts from shore” and “received significant assistance” from Lockheed and subcontractor personnel.
Even with these advantages, “aircraft reliability was poor enough that it was difficult for the Marines to keep more than two or three of the six embarked jets in a flyable status on any given day,” he wrote.
The challenges to keeping the aircraft flying “will be substantially tougher when the aircraft first deploys” on an operational mission under more trying conditions, he said.

Here.

Just plain wow.

So the Assistant Commandant for Aviation has been making the circuit telling us all happy talk about where the F-35 might be at this point in its development...

But to see this?

Sorry.

Its time to start calling a spade a spade.

The Assistant Commandant is lying to us....to the Marine Corps family AND HQMC's plan to clear this procurement trainwreck is 100% shit.

It won't work.

I don't know where Dunford is on this subject outside of his pronouncements to Congress that he fully supports the plane.  Awesome.  But the plane isn't working, it won't work before 2019 and early purchases will only DEGRADE combat efficiency, MIGHT get Marines killed and will continue to drain precious resources that we can't afford to waste.

Its about credibility and integrity.

Declaring IOC with this underperforming piece of hardware is borderline criminal and not in keeping with the finest traditions of MORAL courage that we expect of ALL MARINES!!!  Including the Commandant.

Sidenote:  If by chance the Assistant Commandant for Aviation wants to refute any of this I stand ready to listen.  But be advised.  I won't cower in a corner like many in the defense media lapping up nonsense.  Real questions will be asked.