via Washington Examiner...
"The F-35 is only the latest chapter in a long history that generally follow the rule of what I call 'two, two and a half,' " Adams said. "Everything the Pentagon buys costs twice as much as they originally estimated, takes twice as long [to build] and, at least initially, gives half of the capabilities you expected."And then this...
The fact that there are no good alternatives is helping save the project. But depending entirely on the F-35 as the F-16s and F-15s retire would also pose problems if enemies find a chink in the F-35's armor, Wood said.Here.
"If it were less expensive or there were more dollars, you could buy different kinds of platforms and have the ability to account for a discovered deficiency in the F-35," he said. "With the enemy discovering how it operates, they might find a weak spot to exploit. Once it's done, that would make your entire fleet vulnerable, because you won't have other options to default to."
This is the real issue facing F-35 supporters no matter how much they claim to love the program.
You can't get around the fact that the airplane costs too much, has poor performance and has taken far too long to get into service.
Add to all this is the reality of the situation. Budget reality means that the death spiral is here. Our military leaders sold their souls for this airplane and left not only our airpower in jeopardy but those of our allies as well. They conspired to give the nation no choice but to go with the F-35 even after it was apparent several years ago that the plane wasn't good enough.
So what do we do now (after we put a few Generals and Corporate officials in jail on RICO charges)?
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