THE OPS DESK
S-400 DEAL THREATENS JSF PARTICIPATION.
BRINGING YOU THE LATEST TALK FROM AROUND THE SQUADRONS
OVER THE PAST two years I’ve spent a great deal of time involved with the F-35 Lightning II program. Admittedly, I wasn’t the airplane’s biggest fan; however, I have now spent more time with it — seeing it in action at home stations, during operational test evolutions, at the Weapons Instructor Course and during large-force employment (LFE) exercises, and it’s an aircraft that’s growing on me. Clearly, it possesses remarkable attributes when it comes to sensor fusion, airspace and battle management, and lethality.
The F-35 is the subject of unprecedented scrutiny — and criticism. Many repeat assertions that the aircraft is wrought with flaws in its design and in the way that Lockheed Martin configured the program architecture to design, build, test, and produce aircraft in a concurrent fashion.
However, the F-35 is the largest and most expensive military acquisition program in history, with a projected total expenditure in the $1.5-trillion range, with production, operations and sustainment through 2070. While the US is buying the largest number of aircraft and shouldering the bulk of the financia…
