in Government, Military, Politics 240 Words

F-35: America’s White Elephant

There are always reports on how Congress pisses away the taxpayers cash and then there are reports that illustrate just how deep the Congress is in the pockets of special interests……this project was neither wanted or needed by the military….but yet we had to have it……..F-35.

A new setback for the Pentagon’s costliest weapons program: The military’s entire fleet of 97 F-35 fighter jets has been grounded while the military probes a runway fire on one of the jets last month, reports CNN. “Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data,” a Pentagon official says. Officials in Australia and South Korea say they haven’t changed their plans to buy scores of the single-engine fighters, Reuters reports. The F-35 program, which has cost the military almost $400 billion, was grounded last year when a cracked engine blade was discovered.

That’s right, Irene….the American people spent $400 billion on a plane that the military said they could live without…..and yet the Congress went ahead with the construction of this piece of crap…..

Now you tell me just how representative the Congress really is……..we bought a piece of crap……similar to the “virtual fence” for border security….it was built and never worked and yet we still had to pay for it….now I know why so many companies want those lucrative government contracts……

12 thoughts on “F-35: America’s White Elephant”

  1. Yup. Sought of amusing, though, that the Brits have pumped out the first of their two new carriers designed for the F-35, so they can’t effectively actually go to see until 2020.

    Australia is in the same boat. We bought in big on this project and am left with nothing.

    Reply

      1. I’m rarely impressed with Brazil’s spending, but regarding military hardware, i am. They’ve been running a competition to find a new fighter for over 10 years. There is a concerted effort in these parts not to have an arms race. No one wants it, and no one wants to pay for it. So, Brazil (which still fly’s F-5’s) has taken its time, and has only recently settled on the Swedish Gripen. Great plane, great price, and they’re going to be built here, by Embraer!

      2. Sounds like something the rest of the world should check into…..but they will not……it is more important to keep special interests happy than the budget…..

  2. Afterthought: $400 billion pumped into this thing. Your Congress (under the direction of Cheney) killed the DSCVR satellite, which was already built and just needed $180 million to be launched.

    Reply

  3. But it’s not just America’s White Elephant, other nations have gotten suckered into handing the US Military-Industrial-Complex ludicrous amounts of billionsl.

    This includes my native Canuckistan. It’s being led (into the ground) by wanna-be Neo-Con Republican, Stevie Harper Herpes. He want’s to order 65 of these overpriced paperweights. If memory serves, the most recent estimated purchase & (10 year?) running costs were around the 100 billion dollar range.

    Not sure who Canada is going to attack with these things, seeing as we have no official enemies. But all the cool kids are blowing money they don’t have on them, so we better too, lest we fall out of fashion!

    Reply

      1. Yeah, quite a few nations bought into this hi-tech, macho, fantasy. The American Military Industrial Complex is able to con even nations that haven’t been to war since Hitler to empty their already empty coffers on unnecessary, ridiculously expensive, play-toys for the ultra-violet set.

        My piddling little nation can spend $126 billion on planes we don’t need, want and that aren’t even fit for Canada (a single engine plane with a track record of engine troubles in a frozen nation that has 1 airstrip every 40,000 kilometres). Meanwhile, we’re closing our version of VA centres left & right because “We don’t have the money.” Yet Harper walks around with the biggest war-boner Canada has seen since WW2 and poses for the cameras with every person who has ever visited a military base.

      2. So you guys are having VA problems too….that just sucks….a vet deserves better from the country they put their lives on the line for in so many different nations…..

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