Source: Lockheed Martin.
Task & Purpose: The Pentagon's Latest Assessment Of The F-35 Is In, And It Ain't Pretty
The egregiously expensive and notoriously unreliable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are even more of a disappointment than you previously thought, according to a new Department of Defense assessment obtained by Bloomberg News.
The 2018 report from the Pentagon's operational testing and evaluation arm, set for public release this week and obtained early by Bloomberg's Tony Capaccio, indicates that ongoing reliability issues have drastically shortened the service life far below expectations, so far that there's "no improving trend in" available aircraft for training and combat missions — a dangerous combination for a perpetually buggy aircraft.
Here are some of the specifics, per Bloomberg's report:
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WNU Editor: Now I understand why the acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was critical of the F-35 yesterday .... Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan Takes A 'Jab' At The F-35 (January 29, 2019).