Lockheed reported near F-35 block buy

a reply to: FredT

That wasn't my question. The program happened but find me a government or company that could do what the F-35 JSF program did; which is to provide 3 separate and viable stealth attack aircraft with ridiculously advanced features that define the 5th generation of fighters. Surely a separate program for each fighter or even just a separate vstol program may have been better but they are producing aircraft for right at or under 100m right now which is the going rate for a 4++ air frame. The program was compromised by the weight put on it with 3 variants but honestly they've performed brilliantly. The program hasn't scrapped, they're delivering.

a reply to: FredT

Do you have any specific examples of compromises in the F-35 and examples of lies and misinformation by either the manufacturer or the Pentagon? Also didn't congress mandate the marine aircraft be merged with the air force aircraft?

Also there's a phenomenal interview with Gen Bogdan about the F-35, including what the program should have done differently. Worth the watch.

Hi guys,

I were a hater of the F35, i thought it to be dhort, fat and ugly.

But for carrier and day one ops it's really good. Allows for the kick of the door down.

RAB

a reply to: RAB

It will carry a slightly smaller munitions load to an F-15E after the enemy's defenses are down. None of it's pylons will have to carry any special pods and it should require less use of a drop tank because of it's enhanced range. Really it is superior to 4gen fighters in every scenario.

a reply to: C0bzz

I know this sounds like a cop out but this av forums are full of discussions about both the USAF and LockMart overstaing claims, outright lies (Think about all the BS when they were trying to kill the A-10 in favor of funneling more money at this program etc.

The whole dog and pony show with the B model that involved tons of contractor support, an logistics chain that was not representative of real world conditions etc.

I don't trust ANYTHING the USAF/USN/USMC leadership has to say about the air frame.

Its too big to kill at this point but we the taxpayers are getting screwed

a reply to: FredT

It's really silly because the B has been operating in Japan for months now. Nothing about contractors being about should surprise you, military personnel are exposed to and are comfortable working with contractors from day 1. As maintainers are trained and become reliable they'll be around less but always a constant with this and any future aircraft.

a reply to: Zaphod58

That's great news!
Looks like those against the program have less and less of an argument.
I'm sure excellent economies of scale kick in at those purchase quantities.

a reply to: peter_kandra

They've actually had several countries getting interested in it as the program has moved forward in the last few months.

German officials met with Lockheed to talk about the F-35 during the Paris Air Show. This doesn't mean that they're going to buy them, but it's the first time they've met with Lockheed about the aircraft.

a reply to: Zaphod58

They'll need something to protect their Typhoons..