Lockheed VP says the F-35 stealth jet will get more stealthy with age, even though no other stealth plane has done that. Ever. →
This is coming from the company that makes the F-35, which is the most expensive weapon program of all time. Apparently the F-35’s stealth coating will “smooth out” over time, though every other stealth plane has required extensive maintenance just to maintain their stealth coatings. Read more about this dubious claim at Battleland.
Canada is on the hook for $25 billion worth of F-35 fighter jets, and they aren’t happy. POGO’s Winslow Wheeler headed north of the border to tell the CBC their shiny new jets also come with a lot of problems.
(Source: cbc.ca)
Great illustration from The Sydney Morning Herald. Read the accompanying story by POGO’s Winslow Wheeler about the flying lemon that is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Can you see why this chart is the model for how NOT to buy weapons? This shows how the Pentagon buys weapons using a process called concurrency, which is where the weapons are built while they are still being designed and tested. As you can guess, this leads to cost overruns and long delays. Mark Thompson of Battleland goes into why concurrency is such a bad idea.
“There will be improvement when the numbers show improvement; not when important data is left out or when glib management types try to put lipstick on the pig.”
Check out our new infographic for a breakdown of the GAO report on the Pentagon’s weapon programs. Reblog if you want other people to know just how much money the government loses to inefficiencies in weapons procurement. Read more about the report on our blog.
This Plane Is Going to Cost $1.4 Trillion. At Least.
There has been a lot of talk about how the F-35 fighter jet program, already the most costly ever, is going to top $1 trillion. Defense expert Winslow Wheeler looks at the numbers and comes up with a cost of $1.4 trillion and rising.
Image from james_gordon_los_angeles
