In an attempt to deflect my thread on the Obamacare disaster, Crash posted, " I wonder why you never post a topic about the $400 billion dollar F35 fighter. pushed by the republicans. not wanted by any military agency. and to top it off... it doesn't even work!"
I'm slightly familiar with the project and did a bit of research. The F-35 is a joint project amongst the Air Force, Navy and Marines with three variants for the three services -- regular fighter plane, an aircraft carrier capable craft and a short take and landing plane for Marine Amphibious Assault ships.
The program was funded by the US and its allies. The partner nations are either NATO members or close U.S. allies, including United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Australia, Canada,
Norway, Denmark, and Turkey.
A word on weapons system costs, the $400 billion covers the cost of the entire program implementation. That includes not just the cost to buy 2,445 planes, but all costs over 55 years. That includes estimates for all repair parts, fuel, munitions, the cost to pay the pilots and ground crews, all the repair tools unique to the program, all the associated equipment from pilot suits, helmets, small arms carried by the pilots, everything!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...in_F-35_Lightning_II
There are problems with the production program as documented in the DoDIG report:
http://www.dodig.mil/pubs/report_summary.cfm?id=5339
As to the services not desiring the plane, not true.
"The U.S. Air Force in its 2014 budget request seeks to buy more F-35 fighter jets, restock its inventory of precision munitions and slightly thin the ranks of active-duty airmen.
The Air Force stands to gain at least $4.65 billion under the Defense Department’s budget unveiled yesterday for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The boost — the only year-over-year increase for any service — is part of a larger Pentagon strategy to shift emphasis from the ground wars of the past decade and toward threats in the Asia-Pacific region."
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/04...et-boost-more-f-35s/
This budget request was from the service, not a political add-on as is done at the DoD level, or at the Capitol, itself.
The navy is also considering more:
"...But Breaking Defense interviews with Navy and industry sources strongly suggest that the service has little appetite for another expensive development program and that the most likely candidate for the F/A-XX is, in fact, an upgraded F-35.
“We’re not chasing the next shiny object,” a Navy official told Breaking Defense. “We’re looking to what is the art of the possible with regard to affordable warfighting capability.”
So while the Navy is considering an all-new design for F/A-XX, he said, “the answer might be a continued buy of whatever legacy platforms are out there at the time.” And the only existing fighter that will still be in production in 2030, he acknowledged, will be the F-35.
The driver here isn’t some Navy desire for a sixth-generation super-plane: It’s the Navy’s need to replace Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets that will start reaching the end of their projected service life after 2025. F/A-XX is simply the Navy’s name for whatever aircraft comes next. The service’s Request For Information sent out to aerospace companies this spring explicitly solicited concepts – no one is at the stage of submitting actual proposals – both for “new design aircraft” and for “concepts derived from legacy aircraft.'"
http://breakingdefense.com/201...r-f-a-xx-initiative/
Again, a service study and request.
Japan has ordered the F-35 and Singapore and South Korea are considering a buy.
So, not working --No! Up and flying. Not desired by the service. No! They are ordering and fielding. One ally has purchased the craft and more are considering purchases.
Problems with the program -- absolutely. Show me an advanced technology program that doesn't have them. Research the steam powered dynamite canon fielded in the Spanish-American war for a hoot!
I'm certain skeptics told Washington to not use those new fangled rifles, as the smooth bore muskets were more reliable. Certainly, infantry didn't need a weapon that was accurate to 80 yards and could kill at 100.
Fortunately, the few progressives of his day were Tories. After the war, most were smart enough to be quite or shipped off to Canada.