The Drive Blog explains the idiocy of declaring F-35 testing over...

via The DRIVE.

One would imagine that all of this would be cause for celebration from both the F-35’s supporters and critics. This is an important development for a program with such a troubled developmental history and would appear to be a demonstration of actual and significant progress after years of delays and other issues.

But as always seems to be the case with regards to the F-35, the announcement is already mired in controversy. Most immediately, this announcement was originally supposed to have come in January 2018.

In an annual review of the program it released in January 2018, the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, which oversees all such activities across the U.S. military, had said that timetable was optimistic. This office, commonly referred to simply as DOT&E, expected the last SDD flight tests to likely come later in the second quarter of the 2018 fiscal year.

That quarter ended on March 30, 2018. And this is to say nothing of previous delays, as well as the Pentagon’s decision to “re-baseline” the program entirely, effectively shifting the goal posts dramatically, in 2011. The full-rate production decision is already five years behind schedule, at least according to the schedule as it existed in 2009.

Story here. 

I LUV THIS GUY'S WRITING ON THE F-35!~

He breaks down the complex F-35, pushes away the bullshit and explains it donkey style so that everyone can understand it (especially me).  None of the deep dive into weeds that lead to lies, misstatements and outright deceit you find on F-16.net.

Just facts about what its doing right and wrong.

I'm repeating myself but I love his writing!

Back on task.

We labored so long that this program has broken our procurement across all services, will end up costing more than it should and has left every branch in every service in shit shape.

Plus we get the benefit of having a plane that has degraded requirements so they could get it across the finish line and even with those lessened requirements was late!

Read the article then get back to me.  If you don't agree that Western airpower has been screwed beyond recognition by leadership AND Lockheed Martin then I don't know what to tell ya.