Re: F-35 price tag has nearly doubled to about $400 billion since 2001, is flying into a fierce budget battle in Congress. It's also taking flak from allies that are h

[almighty white Christian God the Communist is Anti Tawhid against Muslim AllaH the Capitalist which is a Strong Tawhid]

Is that Why Japs are developing
their own Jap 5th generation Jet fighters ?




Apr 19, 10:25 pm, rst9 <rst9w...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> F-35 fighter jet's escalating costs are on Washington's radar
> The weapons program, whose price tag has nearly doubled to about $400
> billion since 2001, is flying into a fierce budget battle in Congress.
> It's also taking flak from allies that are helping foot the bill.http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fighter-jet-woes-20120419,0,662...
>
> F-35 fighter jets fly over Edwards Air Force Base. The cost per plane
> is about $161 million but it's expected to keep rising. (Darin
> Russell, Lockheed Martin / December 10, 2011)
>
> By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times
> April 19, 2012
> The radar-evading F-35 fighter jet, a nearly $400-billion weapons
> program under development for more than a decade, is facing its worst
> turbulence since Washington decided to buy it in 2001 — when it was
> billed as the most affordable, lethal and survivable military aircraft
> ever built for the U.S. and its allies.
>
> At a time when federal spending is under a microscope, the plan to
> develop and build 2,443 airplanes is hundreds of billions of dollars
> over budget. The F-35, known as the Joint Strike Fighter, has been
> delayed by glitches in its onboard computer systems, cracks in
> structural components and troubles with its electrical system.
>
> A two-star general serving as the military's project manager was fired
> over the program's never-ending problems. The Pentagon has delayed
> orders of the aircraft, and the fighter jet is caught in the middle of
> a major spending fight in Congress. What's more, the plane has roiled
> political debate in Canada, the Netherlands and other allies that are
> picking up 10% of the development costs.
>
> GRAPHIC: F-35 joint strike fighter
>
> The Obama administration wants to delay the purchase of 179 jets to
> save $15 billion. But there is pressure to cut more. Next week, the
> Pentagon's F-35 program manager is set to testify before the Senate
> Armed Services Committee.
>
> Although much of the debate is taking place in Washington, the
> melodrama is being closely watched in Southern California, where much
> is at stake. Only last week, executives of F-35 maker Lockheed Martin
> Corp. made an appearance in El Segundo to remind local businesses and
> aerospace workers that the F-35 will have a huge financial effect in
> the years to come — pumping an estimated $6 billion into the state's
> economy and creating 27,000 jobs.
>
> "The state of California has a huge stake in this," said Danny Conroy,
> one of Lockheed's directors of the F-35 program. "California is the
> single biggest supplier base for the F-35 in the country."
>
> Northrop Grumman Corp.is one of 260 companies in California that
> supply the program — far more than any other state. And the
> subcontractors are feeling the delays that have plagued many aspects
> of the F-35.
>
> Northrop, for instance, has 1,665 employees in Palmdale, San Diego and
> El Segundo working on the program. But it is a fraction of the number
> of people Northrop had expected to hire by now.
>
> In El Segundo, the company makes 100 parts for the stealth fighter
> jet. As the second work shift began last week, Northrop manager Chip
> Oppenlander scanned the vast factory floor and remarked on the dozens
> of unused workstations.
>
> "I expected things to be much busier by now," he said, wringing his
> large hands. "We've hired about half as many people as initially
> planned."
>
> The Pentagon's long-term vision is to replace today's fighter fleets,
> which have an average age of 22 years. It is centered around a plan to
> develop one basic fighter plane that could — with a few tweaks — be
> used on runways and aircraft carriers, and hover like a helicopter for
> joint use by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
>
> The one-size-fits-all approach has never been tried before, and when
> test flights began in 2006, problems soon followed. The flaws have
> been so complicated and so costly that they have put the program
> nearly a decade behind schedule. The program's costs — once estimated
> at $233 billion — have skyrocketed to about $396 billion, the Pentagon
> said last month.
>
> Still, the Pentagon remains dedicated to the program, saying the F-35
> is vital to national security in the 21st century.
>
> "As part of the defense strategy that the United States went through
> and has put in place, we have made very clear that we are 100%
> committed to the development of the F-35," said Defense Secretary Leon
> E. Panetta last month after a meeting with Mexican and Canadian
> military leaders. "We absolutely need it for the future."
>
> But the drawn-out development is infuriating to some in Congress
> because the program was sold as a way to maintain costs and shorten
> the procurement process by avoiding building three planes on three
> assembly lines.
>
> Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reminded fellow lawmakers of this in
> December, when he took to the Senate floor to criticize the program.
>
> "The Joint Strike Fighter program has been both a scandal and a
> tragedy," McCain said. "We are saddled with a program that has little
> to show for itself after 10 years and $56 billion in taxpayer
> investment that has produced less than 20 test and operational
> aircraft."
>
> The Pentagon's latest estimated lifetime costs of the F-35 program —
> to develop, buy, and maintain the planes over 55 years — topped $1.5
> trillion.
>
> Loren Thompson, military policy analyst for the Lexington Institute in
> Arlington, Va., said the estimate is "made up" because it forecasts
> what inflation and fuel costs will be decades from now. He adds that
> it would cost the military three to four times more to keep today's
> fighters flying. "Nobody ever explains that to Congress."
>
> But supporters and critics alike say the escalating price tag
> represents an inescapable roadblock that Congress must face. The
> government's track record is clear: The more a plane costs, the fewer
> they buy.
>
> The Pentagon's aircraft procurement efforts have been fraught with
> cost overruns, delays and cuts. Two decades ago, officials originally
> wanted 648 F-22 fighter jets for $139 million per plane. Eventually,
> the military ended up with only 188 at a price tag of $412 million
> each.
>
> Before that, the Pentagon wanted 132 new B-2 stealth bombers at about
> $500 million per plane. It ultimately bought 21 at $2.1 billion each.
>
> The cost per F-35, about $161 million, could keep rising and
> ultimately push it into a death spiral as well.
>
> House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa
> Clarita), one of the plane's strongest boosters in Congress,
> acknowledged problems ahead.
>
> "History repeats itself," he said in a recent interview. "At some
> point, some members of Congress are going to demand that we buy less
> F-35s. It's inevitable."
>
> Subcontractors across California have spent millions of dollars
> preparing for what is expected to be decades of work on the F-35.
>
> Northrop, for instance, has a new, $170-million assembly line in
> Palmdale. At the 1-million-square-foot complex, there are robots
> capable of carrying multi-ton plane sections; high-precision laser
> cutters; and its very own internal GPS system. It will ultimately be
> capable of producing one complete fuselage for any of the three F-35
> versions without interruption.
>
> The assembly line completed its first fuselage last month and sent it
> to Lockheed's Fort Worth plant for final assembly.
>
> "We're on track now," said Steve O'Bryan, a Lockheed vice president.
> "I'm not trying to give this a rosy view or anything: We've had our
> share of development challenges."
>
> With test flights only about 20% completed, O'Bryan said Lockheed is
> churning out two F-35s a month and plans to deliver four a month by
> summer.
>
> Workers find the plane's ups and downs nerve-racking. Edwin Salas, a
> bespectacled 49-year-old inspector with Northrop, works with his 27-
> year-old son on the program in Palmdale. He's glad that the sections
> are beginning to be shipped out to Texas.
>
> "We've had our hurdles, but things are being ironed out," he said.
> "I'm looking to retire on this program. God willing, my son will too."
>
> william.henni...@latimes.com