DoD Buzz has an article where the USAF Chief of Staff is saying that we shouldn't be "alarmist" over the engine fire that will probably result in one of the 100 F-35's delivered to be written off. This comment from a reader caught my eye.
torquewrench· 17 hours ago"'It’s not unusual in a development program to have something like this happen,' she said."Something is going on behind the scenes with this program.
The powers that be keep telling us on the one hand that the jet is nearly ready to go to war. As a reliable, available instrument of force projection.
Then when something like this happens -- a dangerous, costly Class A mishap which will probably result in the burnt airframe being written off -- and that merely from taxiing out for takeoff -- the powers that be promptly say, "Oh, it's still in _development_, silly, you can't expect stability or maturity from the platform yet."
Which is it? Ready, or unready?
The USAF Chief of Staff is out in full force defending the plane...the Air Force Sec is out saying that we need to be agile enough to modify plans and not get locked into an "all or nothing" mindset when it comes to procurement (ComNavOps has a must read on this...check it out here)...the Brits still haven't put down money to buy their first "tranche" of airplanes.....
Yeah. Something is going on.
Could this be the first in a gradual string of releases from the Air Force, building up to an eventual this program just isn't working statement? Spiral time may be closer than we think.
ReplyDeletei think thats exactly what we're going to see. you're hearing more and more annoyance in Congress over this program....Marines are pissed at the tremendous amount of money going to the air wing....the US Navy is having to downgrade its future carrier UAV so that this much less capable airplane still has a role and foreign buyers just aren't stepping up to the plate.
DeleteIt's a fight within the Air Force command structure. The CoS and the AFS are on different sides. I'm sure LM is throwing bribes and offers of future employment around to stave off the rebellion. But their shit obviously stinks, and the chances of them holding off a cancellation another couple of years are shrinking by the day.
DeleteThe thing is - the higher ups in charge of this program have already passed a point at which they could pull the plug on F-35, and the public/congress would not ask them "Why did you let this mess go on and waste money for such a long time, when it was painfully obvious that this project is a disaster?". So to me it seems that they are trying to give an impression of "business as usual", while at the same time, desperately trying to come up with a way to scrap the program without being forced to stand in front of congress and answer some career-wrecking questions.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, its only a matter of time before some young, but very ambitious politician will use this mess to kick-start his political career. Probably will be a leftie, since "they have money for this disaster, but are cutting on food-stamps/can't feed the illegals" is a very good talking point for getting votes from certain social groups. Might be conservative/right wing too, then it will be "they are trying to sell this turd to the army, while cancelling the programs/developments the army really needs". Interestingly enough, both would be 100% correct.
It's an unstable sort of stability ;)
ReplyDeleteThe scary thing is Welsh and his crayon and stick-figure approach to air power.
ReplyDelete