Interesting interview about the F-35

a reply to: JIMC5499

ALIS has been one of the biggest pain in the assess part of the program, but everyone I've talked to likes it and sees a lot of potential to make things a lot easier.

originally posted by: JimTSpock
I'd expect people involved in the F-35 program would say the F-35 is awesome even if they might not think that. Of course LM say it's great and air force say it's great, I bet they'd get a warning or worse if they said any different...

Pilots from other nations who fly it say it's great.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

The trick is.. ask the people that keep it flying.. what do they think.

I know several pilots that think a B-1 is awesome.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Hell if it goes fast pilots think it's the best thing in the air.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Some truth there, but combat performance and maintenance are two completely different things. So far most attacks have been on performance, which is why I bring up pilots. I would be surprised if there are no hiccups, the F-35 is such a huge leap ahead.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: JimTSpock
I'd expect people involved in the F-35 program would say the F-35 is awesome even if they might not think that. Of course LM say it's great and air force say it's great, I bet they'd get a warning or worse if they said any different...

Pilots from other nations who fly it say it's great.

I said air force not USAF only. You mean pilots who work for air forces who are spending billions of dollars on F-35s. Of course they all say it's great it's PR. Just saying.
Just an example an ex RAAF commander said he wasn't very impressed with the Super Hornet purchase, but of course serving personnel all sang praise.

a reply to: JimTSpock

Well when I have two people with bias, one who actually flies it, and one who twists reports into saying things they don't even say, I will have to side with the guys actually flying it.

Just saying. Large companies and organizations - go along to get along, tow the line, support the team, know your place, don't rock the boat and all that.
Guys actually flying it are employees who know their place and know what they can and can't say. Pretty basic. I'm not saying it's bad but when certain people say it's good well duh they work there of course they say that.

I'd like to see an independent objective analysis of F-35, but since it's classified only thr air force has access to that kind of thing and they keep that to thmeselves.

a reply to: JimTSpock

And yet, for the first program ever, there's been a single operator complaining, and ironically he was complaining about the lack of dogfighting ability during a test that wasn't even about dogfighting.

There are usually at least rumors of complaints during programs. There hasn't been a single rumor beyond one test pilot bitching and a bunch of journalists that don't like it.

Was just looking at this,

nationalinterest.org...

And this,

aviationweek.com...

Seems like a lot of software problems, still a huge amount of work to do, to get everything working properly. Seems like a bit of a huge mess IMO. Will be years more work to get where they want to go.

a reply to: JimTSpock

Which is the plan. The plane is not supposed to be ready today.

a reply to: JimTSpock

They aren't even declaring IOC until late this year. It's usually two to five years to reach FOC after that point. There's plenty of time to resolve those.

Morning!

Great thread Zaph, nice to see some more objectivity around F-35, you're right that the amount of people involved in the lightning II programme that have nothing but good things to say about her is unusually high. I've just been out at Woomera for a few weeks and it's been a very interesting time, it's very very quiet there.

Cheers
Robbie

a reply to: Irishhaf

If by looking at B-1 parking ramps is any indication the Mechs must hate them. Hydraulic Fluid stains at every parking spot.

a reply to: Pyle

They're the biggest pain in the ass in the inventory. We usually always had at least one left behind after every deployment.

Haters gonna hate..Anything newsworthy about the F35 the media will jump on and blow it out of the water..