F-16.net

According to "Aviation Leak", somebody at the Pentagon sided with common sense and the USAF-optimized F-35A JSF won't be canceled. Probably will be cut in numbers though.

And, the F/A-22 Raptor production line will be extended through at least the year 2010.

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/c ... F12025.xml

F-16.net Sponsor

why is there a picture of a X-32 on that article just that makes me think it might be a little unreliable

Quote:

The Air Force still plans to cut the number of Lockheed Martin-built F-35s it will buy from 1,763 to about 1,100

I see that the Air Force has decided to, yet again, cut the amount of F-35's they wanted to purchase down to only 1,100. I just don't see how they're going to replace 2,250+ F-16's, with 1,100 F-35's (and I'd imagine the number of F-35's will probably decrease again soon). Jeez, in the future, we're going to have one small AF. Sad

Quote:

I just don't see how they're going to replace 2,250+ F-16's, with 1,100 F-35's

The total quantity of F-16`s bought by the USAF is around 2231, but active today is less than 1500. The rest are most likely at AMARC or the scrap heap, or will be there soon due to BRAC.

Quote:

Jeez, in the future, we're going to have one small AF

Your`s not the only one I`m afraid Crying or Very sad

, but the reason is that the expense of running an AF is very high and the threats not the same as they used to be thus eliminating the need for very strong AF`s.
I know someone is going to be bitching me for saying this, but its true. Shrug

F-16.net Editor Joined: Sep 23, 2003 Posts: 2862

agilefalcon16 wrote:

Quote:

The Air Force still plans to cut the number of Lockheed Martin-built F-35s it will buy from 1,763 to about 1,100

I see that the Air Force has decided to, yet again, cut the amount of F-35's they wanted to purchase down to only 1,100. I just don't see how they're going to replace 2,250+ F-16's, with 1,100 F-35's (and I'd imagine the number of F-35's will probably decrease again soon). Jeez, in the future, we're going to have one small AF. Sad

Fact is we don't need that many airframes. This is the targets per sortie era not the sorties per target era. So much for JSF being low cost. Laughing

This is the classic spiral of death. I've heard about it, but this is it up close and personal. Quite odd really, I wonder if the government will step in like they did with the -22 and get the cost back down. Oh well, should be interesting to watch at least.

F-16.net Editor Joined: Sep 23, 2003 Posts: 2862

Unfortunately we probably won't cancel JSF. V-22 killed a bunch of people and is dubious all the way around, including the latest combat evaluation that was done with kid gloves, and it isn't cancelled yet. No one was fired over C-130J as far as I know. The fielding of the POS Stryker AFV and the tanker fiasco. We are doing pretty good so far. That is a solid trend. Laughing

elp is right on. When you take a hard look at it a defense contractors main goal is to make the most profit that they can for it's stock holders, if their product turns out to be good that's great but if not they tend to fudge ,lie or steal. Did not LM get caught with Boeing documents concerning rocket launches at the Cape? They also got caught selling warehouses that the AF paid for to support the 22. Remember the Marines that pencil whipped the V-22 records? How about the AF officer at the appropiations hearing claiming the 22 cost could be brought down to around 90 million but upon further questions had to admit that 90 million didn't include the engines! I'm not picking on LM, they all do it. My mother-in-laws cousin works at the GAO, she has good stories at family reunions.

vinnie wrote:

elp is right on. When you take a hard look at it a defense contractors main goal is to make the most profit that they can for it's stock holders, if their product turns out to be good that's great but if not they tend to fudge ,lie or steal. Did not LM get caught with Boeing documents concerning rocket launches at the Cape? They also got caught selling warehouses that the AF paid for to support the 22. Remember the Marines that pencil whipped the V-22 records? How about the AF officer at the appropiations hearing claiming the 22 cost could be brought down to around 90 million but upon further questions had to admit that 90 million didn't include the engines! I'm not picking on LM, they all do it. My mother-in-laws cousin works at the GAO, she has good stories at family reunions.

This unfortunate practice isn't limited to the DoD. Pretty much every department in the government, whether it is local, state or federal fudges their numbers greatly. When was the last time that a road construction project was completed on time and under budget? It has gotten bad enough that congressmen and women expect this and inflate prices as much as 20% or more... Wow, the things you learn from Gov327...

vinnie wrote:

Did not LM get caught with Boeing documents concerning rocket launches at the Cape?

No, they did not. Boeing got caught with LM documents concerning the EELV program. There is much more to the story than that though.

I think the odds are 60/40 that the F-35A could be cancelled. Really, the cost of the Iraq War is costing the US Military Billions and its looking at "every" possibility to save money. Remember the cancelation of the F-35A doesn't mean it wouldn't get a version of the JSF. Just a landbased version of the Naval F-35C. The combined saving of the F-35B/C order by all of the US Armed Service plus the JSF Partners would be quite large! Maybe even seeing a few more F-22's ordered as a by product! Very Happy

F-16.net Editor Joined: Sep 23, 2003 Posts: 2862

If the thing flys next year and can drop some weapons kinda OK, I promise to write a book: Why I like J$F ...And You Should Too...

I just want some cash under the table. Not greedy. A nice place in Scottsdale, enough walk around money for life. ( Hit the first tee at Greyhawk a few times a week etc. ) Laughing

I know how the system works. I'm joining the I-have-a-price team. Laughing

Enthusiast Joined: Jan 14, 2004 Posts: 87 Status: Offline

elp wrote:

If the thing flys next year and can drop some weapons kinda OK, I promise to write a book: Why I like J$F ...And You Should Too...

I just want some cash under the table. Not greedy. A nice place in Scottsdale, enough walk around money for life. ( Hit the first tee at Greyhawk a few times a week etc. ) Laughing

I know how the system works. I'm joining the I-have-a-price team. Laughing

Scottsdale, *bleach*, now Queen Creek I could see.... Wink

-MArk

elp wrote:

If the thing flys next year and can drop some weapons kinda OK, I promise to write a book: Why I like J$F ...And You Should Too...

I just want some cash under the table. Not greedy. A nice place in Scottsdale, enough walk around money for life. ( Hit the first tee at Greyhawk a few times a week etc. ) Laughing

I know how the system works. I'm joining the I-have-a-price team. Laughing

What do we get? Confused

F-16.net

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

News: USAF F-35A JSF won't be canceled