Friday, February 22, 2013
Pentagon grounds F-35 fleet
A mere week after they resumed flying following their previous grounding. This is the wonder plane that was supposed to do everything and save money by using the same platform for all three service models. So far it is 7 years behind schedule and wildly over budget. So far the only thing about the plane that works as planned is Lockheed's plan to make the program bulletproof from cost cutters, waste eliminators and anybody else sick of throwing good money after bad.
the Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) aircraft has been plagued by a costly redesign, bulkhead cracks, too much weight, and delays to essential software that have helped put it seven years behind schedule and 70 percent over its initial cost estimate. At almost $400 billion, it’s the most expensive weapons system in U.S. history.Bloomberg takes a good long look at the program "too big to kill". They even have a graphic that shows the many tentacles of the program reaching across the country and around the world.
It is also the defense project too big to kill. The F-35 funnels business to a global network of contractors that includes Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and Kongsberg Gruppen ASA of Norway. It counts 1,300 suppliers in 45 states supporting 133,000 jobs -- and more in nine other countries, according to Lockheed. The F-35 is an example of how large weapons programs can plow ahead amid questions about their strategic necessity and their failure to arrive on time and on budget.
“It’s got a lot of political protection,” said Winslow Wheeler, a director at the Project on Government Oversight’s Center for Defense Information in Washington. “In that environment, very, very few members of Congress are willing to say this is an unaffordable dog and we need to get rid of it.”
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