The nearly $1.5 trillion military project that is the F-35 program has endured tons of criticism as it has been far behind schedule with a price tag that keeps increasing. During a hearing of the Armed Services Committee this morning, Senator John McCain did not mince words about the failure of the program after more than a decade since inception. The committee chairman issued a lengthy criticism of the "largest and most expensive acquisition program in the Department of Defense's history."
He first took aim at the ridiculous original cost and delivery estimates and how far off those predictions currently sit:
The F-35 program's record of performance has been both a scandal and a tragedy with respect to cost, schedule and performance...Costs have more than doubled from original estimates. The aircraft deliveries amount to no more than a mere trickle relative to the original promises of the program. The original F-35 delivery schedule promised 1,013 F-35s of all variants would be delivered by the end of fiscal year 2016. In reality, we will have 179.
Ouch. Taxpayer money well spent on the military industrial complex!
The effect of this failure is actually more profound than just a waste of money, however. John McCain elaborates further:
In the department's fiscal year 2017 budget request, dozens more aircraft are being deferred from the future years defense plan resulting in a situation where the last F-35 will be delivered in 2040. I cannot fathom how this strategy makes any sense. Purchasing combat aircraft with a 40-year-old design in light of all the testimony this committee has received about how our potential adversaries are rapidly catching up with, and in some cases, matching America's military technological advantages.
There are two key points here. The first is the obvious of how long it is taking for Lockheed-Martin to deliver the fighter. The longer it takes to become operational and be delivered, the more America's advantage in the air shrinks. In other words, this delay puts lives unnecessarily at risk in the event the fighters are needed in the future.
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