Incoming SecDef Mattis Backs F-35 Program Criticize by Trump

[XanderCrews]

I could see the appointment as part of an effort to get #NeverTrump FoPol guys on board that he will seriously need if he's going to get through the next 4-8 years without leaving a disastrous legacy.

Damn so now he is trying to find a good cabinet so he can be effective?!

What will this sneaky bastard do next?!

It's almost like it's a plan. Like he has mattis there to be good cop, so he can be bad cop. And the F-35 will still be bought but possibly at a better rate after he cuts through red tape and takes credit...

Mattis is his opposite. Mattis is calm, tempered, ruthless and chooses his words carefully. Trump is grandiose, fast and loose, and a dealer. So Ino other words trump is picking exactly the right man and not the yes men you warned us about. In fact mattis was fired by Obama for not being a yes man.

It's almost like trump recognizes strengths and weaknesses to an extremely shrewd degree

[sferrin]

The looney tunes are coming out of the woodwork it seems.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/4 ... et-program

That guy is either incredibly ignorant or just flat out lying. (Most likely a combination of the two.)

[castlebravo]

I wouldn't be surprised if the "deal" would be ramped up F-35 production (economies of scale is after all the easiest way of bringing down the cost of an individual airframe)

That's what I've been saying all along. The timing is perfect for Trump to take credit for the cost reduction that comes with signing the first multi-year block buy.

[SpudmanWP]

Them coming out the woodwork surprises you?

Think rats fleeing a sinking ship. You see them everywhere, they make a lot of noise, they start feeding on each other ... It will all be over soon.

[lamashtu]

[

No kidding. Dude loves Mattis.

Given Trump's well-publicised deferrals from the Vietnam-era draft and that Mattis was, well, a Marine Corps general, and also the fact that Mattis' outlook on foreign policy couldn't be more different from Trump's, I'm not so sure the "love" goes both ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCD5zHBNWG8

Also this quote from a Mark Bowden piece is illustrative of how long Trump's mancrush on Mattis might last:

It was hard to watch the way he treated those around him, issuing peremptory orders—“Polish this, Tony. Today.” He met with the lady who selected his drapery for the Florida estate—“The best! The best! She’s a genius!”—who had selected a sampling of fabrics for him to choose from, all different shades of gold. He left the choice to her, saying only, “I want it really rich. Rich, rich, elegant, incredible.” Then, “Don’t disappoint me.” It was a pattern. Trump did not make decisions. He surrounded himself with “geniuses” and delegated. So long as you did not “disappoint” him—and it was never clear how to avoid doing so—you were gold.

What was clear was how fast and far one could fall from favor. The trip from “genius” to “idiot” was a flash. The former pilots who flew his plane were geniuses, until they made one too many bumpy landings and became “f***ing idiots.” The gold carpeting selected in his absence for the locker rooms in the spa at Mar-a-Lago? “What kind of f***ing idiot . . . ?”

[sferrin]

Time will tell. Mattis could have easily refused. He didn't.

[XanderCrews]

So mattis will be Sec Def and get a free hand?

Fark, I think I died and went to heaven.

[popcorn]

[

No kidding. Dude loves Mattis.

Given Trump's well-publicised deferrals from the Vietnam-era draft and that Mattis was, well, a Marine Corps general, and also the fact that Mattis' outlook on foreign policy couldn't be more different from Trump's, I'm not so sure the "love" goes both ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCD5zHBNWG8

Also this quote from a Mark Bowden piece is illustrative of how long Trump's mancrush on Mattis might last:

It was hard to watch the way he treated those around him, issuing peremptory orders—“Polish this, Tony. Today.” He met with the lady who selected his drapery for the Florida estate—“The best! The best! She’s a genius!”—who had selected a sampling of fabrics for him to choose from, all different shades of gold. He left the choice to her, saying only, “I want it really rich. Rich, rich, elegant, incredible.” Then, “Don’t disappoint me.” It was a pattern. Trump did not make decisions. He surrounded himself with “geniuses” and delegated. So long as you did not “disappoint” him—and it was never clear how to avoid doing so—you were gold.

What was clear was how fast and far one could fall from favor. The trip from “genius” to “idiot” was a flash. The former pilots who flew his plane were geniuses, until they made one too many bumpy landings and became “f***ing idiots.” The gold carpeting selected in his absence for the locker rooms in the spa at Mar-a-Lago? “What kind of f***ing idiot . . . ?”

Classic Mushroom Farming technique, IGen. Mattis is a Marine, no doubt with tremendous fortitude which is going to be tested as DoD Chief. Fingers-crossed he makes a difference.

[arian]

Trump is grandiose, fast and loose, and a dealer.

I believe the word you're looking for there is dumba**.

I'm glad Trump is picking some good people around him, but lets just be honest here and I don't think even Trump's biggest supports could deny this: Trump needs to be kept in check by the rest of his administration and the rest of the GOP government because you don't want to leave a dumba** to his own accord.

Time will tell which side will win out in the end.

PS: And lets also not forget he has picked some horrible people, like Flynn. We'll see how much he turns the CIA into the GRU annex.

[nutshell]

The looney tunes are coming out of the woodwork it seems.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/4 ... et-program

That guy is either incredibly ignorant or just flat out lying. (Most likely a combination of the two.)

The comments.

I spilled so much blood by reading them i need a transfusion.

[Corsair1963]

The titles of his most recent articles says it all....

http://www.nationalreview.com/author/mike-fredenburg

[maus92]

I wouldn't be surprised if the "deal" would be ramped up F-35 production (economies of scale is after all the easiest way of bringing down the cost of an individual airframe)

That's what I've been saying all along. The timing is perfect for Trump to take credit for the cost reduction that comes with signing the first multi-year block buy.

Block buy is not happening, for the US at least. The US will most likely participate in EOQ wrt advance procurement.

[SpudmanWP]

Gilmore is on the way out and Trump want's an "easy" win to show he can get the price down.

The easiest way to do that is to go with the previously proposed Block Buy.

[lamashtu]

I should probably addend that with another equally possible outcome: Absolutely nothing of note happens and F-35 program proceeds as planned. Both the media and much of Trump's base for which his Twitter-shaming was designed to pander to have little reason to pay attention to the program once the hub-bub dies down, as there's other stuff Trump can complain about what's gone wrong in the US. To quote an episode of "Yes Minister": "[L]ots of activity but no actual achievement." Except replace the "activity" with "noise".

[maus92]

"No Block Buy for U.S. Services

Per expectations, most international F-35 partners will move forward with a three-year bulk purchase of aircraft in Lots 12, 13 and 14 beginning in 2018, Bogdan said. As recently as September, he expressed confidence that the U.S. services would join in the block buy in its second year. However, Bogdan said Dec. 19 that the JPO made a “strategic communication mistake” in characterizing the services’ plan as a block buy, explaining that the U.S. will instead contribute money to buy long-lead parts in bulk during the three years.

The services have already budgeted for the additional funding, called an “economic order quantity,” in their fiscal 2018 budget blueprints but must ask Congress to authorize the transactions each year.

The block buy [bulk purchase for international partners] will cover 451 aircraft and save about $2 billion altogether, Bogdan said."

http://aviationweek.com/combat-aircraft ... t-left-fix