McCain on the F-35. A classic example of failure....

via Inside Defense.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) today urged the nominee tapped to serve as the Pentagon's next chief weapons tester to pay special attention to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

"I've been screwing around with the F-35 for the last 12 years," McCain said during a hearing. "At some universities and colleges around the country they'll be teaching this as a classic example of failure."

McCain said it was a critical time for the Defense Department to have in place a "strong, capable" director of operational test and evaluation.

"Often, it seems as though the department is in a rush to push some platforms -- like the F-35 -- through testing and evaluation prematurely, while at the same time delaying the delivery of other capabilities required to help us maintain our warfighting advantages," he said.

Story here. 

Too little too late.

The Maverick was anything but on this subject.  He knows it too.  I consider this a "cleansing statement" so that he won't be remembered for the folly called the F-35.