The F-35 can currently carry just 2 long range AA missiles and 2 bombs due to software deficiencies.
No gun. And any more weapons that could be carried after the software gets fixed kills the stealth of the aircraft making it a fat target.
Posted on 12/29/2016 10:23:02 AM PST by Mariner
A trio of Connecticut Democratic lawmakers is calling President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for finding an alternative to the F-35 a “total nonstarter.”
“Any suggestion that there is a substitute for the F-35 is a total nonstarter,” Reps. Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro and John Larson said in a statement Friday. “This is a program that has been vetted ad nauseum by the Pentagon, the Congress and independent experts. There is simply no aircraft in production today that can compare with the F-35’s advanced avionics, networked capabilities and integrated stealth.”
On Thursday, Trump took aim at the F-35 fighter jet for the second time in as many weeks, tweeting that he wants to explore a “comparable F-18.”
“Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet,” he tweeted.
The F-18 is a fourth-generation plane and does not have the capabilities that define the fifth generation F-35, including stealth. If Trump is serious about redesigning the F-18, that could mean years of development and billions of dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
WILL SOMEBODY WITH KNOWLEDGE ON THE SUBJECT PLEASE TELL ME IF THE F35 IS A GOOD PLANE OR NOT!!!???
Sorry. I’ve seen so many pro and con articles, I’m confused.
If it is good, is it worth the price?
Has too much been invested to stop now?
Anyone who knows, thanks!
The F-35 can currently carry just 2 long range AA missiles and 2 bombs due to software deficiencies.
No gun. And any more weapons that could be carried after the software gets fixed kills the stealth of the aircraft making it a fat target.
If we’re not going to nation-build or be the world policeman for free, do we really need it? If so, how can we get those who we will be helping to defend to help pay for it?
It is not the hardware that costs so much, it is the people time. The government drags out the schedule and increases the people requirements. That said, Lockheed and the other big players have a tremendous overhead rate. That is a major fix that is needed at the government contractor end. One solution is a Management LLC for major weapons programs that have all the key people in them.
Awe...YES!!!
Why would anyone even need a new manned aircraft now? Use the manned aircraft we have and deploy a new drone that does what needs to be done. Have an autopilot that can pull a bazillion G’s might be more useful than a manned craft.
These Conecticut Representatives don’t give a damned about the F35.What their worried about is the loss of the contract for the engines to Pratt and Whitney Aircraft.
All of them dispise the military and anything involving it.
That's because the Germans stopped producing the ME-110 some years back.
BS...
By the time trillions are spent on the F35 it will be obsolete. The Chinese have already copied it. For the money and time they (we taxpayers) have spent we could have had 10 different models of mission specific aircraft. As Scotty said in Star Trek, “The more you overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stuff up the drain.” The F35 is a massive welfare program.
Where was the House armed services committee with over sight on this disaster and the 15 billion dollar Gerald R Ford Carrier that cant launch jets? Where was chairman “dingle”berry who gets huge campaign contributions from these boondoggle defense contractors ? He spent 1.6 million in a campaign with no opponent? “Mac” Thornberry. He supported hillary!!As a never Trump idiot.
“Courtney, DeLauro and Larson’s home state of Connecticut is home to Pratt and Whitney, the company manufacturing the F-35’s engine”
Doesn’t P&R also manufacture the F22 engines?
I’M SHOCKED!..................
Pearls before swine comes to mind...
Sorry you’re late to the game dp, there used to be a day here when folks used facts vs. “fake news” or ignorant opinion as points of argument.
Here is my source. Where is yours?
The Meteor--which can engage targets at a range of around 140 km (87 miles), would make the F-15C and F-18E still very viable fighter platforms well into the 21 Century, sihce the latest Russian AAM's are still quite rare in service.
The F-35 is exemplary of everything that is wrong with government. Designed by committee, it’s slow, clumsy, unreliable, catches fire, and doesn’t do what it’s supposed to, but it is astronomically expensive.
This is what happens when government gets so big that it micro-manages everything. Everything becomes an F-35.
What’s worse is now I’ll have to spend hours myself trying to find the truth!!
I’ve read:
It lost all of its dogfights but dogfights don’t matter anymore.
It won its dog fights.
Its stealth is not as powerful as predicted.
Its stealth is incredible.
It carries a small payload.
Its payload is fine.
:(
Hmmmm...wonder why a bunch of CT representatives want to preserve the F-35.
...
Donors stealing money from the taxpayer I bet.
The F-35 was built with the ability to control multiple UACV’s.
Stealth UACV’s like the the XB-47.
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