By Ted Belman
The NYT reports that House Votes to End Alternate Jet Engine Program
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The Joint Strike Fighter, F-35, is the nation’s most expensive weapons program, and eliminating the alternate engine would be one of the most noteworthy cancellations this year.
The project was meant to create competition with another engine and drive down prices on what could eventually be up to $100 billion in engine purchases. But Pentagon officials have questioned the potential savings and said they could not afford the short-term costs with the military budget flattening out.
I get the feeling that the designers of the F-22 and F-35 are all the same Detroit idiots that we keep bailing out in the auto industry. Uncle Sam is a big cash cow; and the few bloated defense contractors we depend on have forgotten what it is to have a fresh idea. If Israel produced its own aircraft, hopefully the world would see something truly new: something stealthy, adaptable, useful, serviceable and CHEAP.
Unless the US, Europe and Israel find that there are new aircraft being built, in quantity, better than the F15, 16 and 18, Why do we have to have the F-35? Ballistic missiles with nuclear tips can hit anywhere in the world. UAV’s can do the rest.
I have never heard of any serious production project that have no second sources for both major and minor components. You keep prices down by making the contractors hold to their proforma bids and not approve cost overruns.
You want to kill the project? Have Israel back out of the deal.
Get rid of that flying white elephant. The biggest enemy the US has at this time, is Barack Obama.