Wednesday, March 07, 2012
What could become the most costly weapons program in U.S. history is moving forward because leaders in the Department of Defense decided to lower the plane’s performance standards.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter reportedly passed a key test of its combat capability last month…but only after a military testing office changed the rules.
Originally the Air Force’s F35A combat radius—the distance from base at which it can operate—was supposed to be 590 miles. When that could not be achieved, the Department of Defense, rather than modify the plane’s design, just lowered the acceptable combat radius.
The Pentagon chose a similar solution to a problem with the Marine Corps’ short take off and vertical landing variant of the F-35. It was supposed to be able to use less than 550 feet of runway. When that standard was not met, defense officials simply extended the required distance to 600 feet.
The Pentagon plans to eventually buy 2,500 F-35s over a period of 50 years. If it manages to do this, the cost is expected to be about $1 trillion.
-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Pentagon Slackens Difficult-To-Achieve JSF Performance Requirements (Inside Defense.com)
Pentagon Helps New Stealth Fighter Cheat on Key Performance Test (by David Axe, Wired)
Trillion-Dollar F-35 Jet Fighter Has 13 Flaws (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
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