You’ll either commit to it or you won’t, because fair warning that this is a deep dive into what may be the biggest money pit failure in US DoD history. In 20 years of development and slow production, after having spent $63 BILLION in development alone, the US has fielded just 750 F-35 fighter jets, and most are not full mission capable. The propaganda is thick. But it’s a paper tiger.
Hundreds of billions more is scheduled to be poured into this trash product too, as you’re about to read. And that doesn’t even touch the >$400 BILLION procurement expense of the remaining 1,693 jets yet to be built of the 2,443 ordered for the USAF (1,763), USMC (420), and USN (260).
I should also mention that the GAO has already predicted the fleet is unsustainable. These planes are new, yet near impossible to keep flight ready, and cost $7.8 million per plane annually in maintenance & repairs. Original estimates were $3.7 million. The sustainment of this fleet is anticipated to cost $1.7 TRILLION over its lifespan.
Moreover, program performance is so awful and regressing that this years independent oversight report was produced in three versions: public consumption, classified, and, for the first time ever, a version called “non-public controlled unclassified.” It means what you think it means; the govt tried to hide unclassified oversight data from the US public. But why? Because it is fukking embarrassing. That’s why. Fortunately, money buys anything and the non-public version was leaked.
Big government incompetence and a fat cat giant govt contractor who way over-promised and is setting all-time records for under-delivering.
Here is the mind-boggling story of the failure of this critically important military program and the effort to keep it from you.
Pro tip: The watchdog report linked just above is broken down into 5 sections and a conclusion. I recommend taking on a section at a time.
Hundreds of billions more is scheduled to be poured into this trash product too, as you’re about to read. And that doesn’t even touch the >$400 BILLION procurement expense of the remaining 1,693 jets yet to be built of the 2,443 ordered for the USAF (1,763), USMC (420), and USN (260).
I should also mention that the GAO has already predicted the fleet is unsustainable. These planes are new, yet near impossible to keep flight ready, and cost $7.8 million per plane annually in maintenance & repairs. Original estimates were $3.7 million. The sustainment of this fleet is anticipated to cost $1.7 TRILLION over its lifespan.
Moreover, program performance is so awful and regressing that this years independent oversight report was produced in three versions: public consumption, classified, and, for the first time ever, a version called “non-public controlled unclassified.” It means what you think it means; the govt tried to hide unclassified oversight data from the US public. But why? Because it is fukking embarrassing. That’s why. Fortunately, money buys anything and the non-public version was leaked.
Big government incompetence and a fat cat giant govt contractor who way over-promised and is setting all-time records for under-delivering.
Here is the mind-boggling story of the failure of this critically important military program and the effort to keep it from you.
Pro tip: The watchdog report linked just above is broken down into 5 sections and a conclusion. I recommend taking on a section at a time.
