3 ms·
Do you feel the same way about the F-35 and its contractors?
by ghostcluster 9y ago
Do you feel the same way about the F-35 and its contractors?
- pavpanchekha 9y agoF-35 costs have come way down (~80M each for the latest signed contracts, if I recall, definitely below 100M), largely because we are building so so many of them, and tests seem to suggest it is an excellent plane (like the Red Flag tests of last year).
- lmm 9y agoNo, the F-35 is the opposite in a way: we're building thousands of them, piling on to the programme cost, in order to make the unit cost number looks smaller. Most of the F-35 isn't really cutting-edge technology; the F-22 is ahead of it in some respects. The lift fan business is cutting-edge, compromising the design even in the variants that don't use it; it would be much more appropriate for a small-production-run high-tech programme like the Zumwalts. Maybe there was space for a ground attack aircraft for the Navy and Air Force that could replace the F/A-18 and the A-10. But expecting the same plane to also replace the Harrier was a mistake, as was stopping production of the F-22.