The F-35: A Weapon That Costs More Than Australia | The Atlantic - http://www.theatlantic.com/nationa...
Mar 20, 2011
from
Bluesun 2600,
John (bird whisperer),
Scoble, Alex Scoble,
Morton Fox,
Bren,
.مهــــــــدى.,
Nicķ,
Glenn Slaven,
imabonehead,
Big Joe Silenced,
and
Andrew C (✔)
liked this
“..In a rational world, U.S. military expenditure would focus on the likely threats that the United States faces today and in the future. And at a time of mounting national debt, the Tea Party would be knocking down the Pentagon's door to cut waste. But the only tea party in sight is the one overseen by the Mad Hatter, as we head down the rabbit hole into the military industrial wonderland...”
- Anthony Citrano
AIUI, fighter jets are priced per piece based largely on the anticipated size of the order, so cutting 10% of the order doesn't cut 10% of the cost... more like 2-5%.
- Andrew C (✔)
Fair enough.
- Andrew C (✔)
Yep, we should just replace our aging F-16s with newer F-16s. I bet those are pretty cheap (relatively) at this point.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
Can I sell off Tasmania to get me one of these? ;)
- Glenn Slaven
According to the article, newer F-16s would cost one-third as much as F-35s.
- John (bird whisperer)
It's crazy that they don't expect the F-35 to be able to replace our A-10 fleet until 2028! Even then it won't match the A-10's performance for close air support missions. Thankfully, they've been modernizing the A-10 fleet with new wings, glass cockpits and stuff.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
they've been trying to retire the A-10 since the early 90s. it's a great platform, tho. wtf? #NewToy
- Big Joe Silenced
They've obviously given up on that, given the expected conflicts that we'll engage in. :)
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
It's funny that they went with a common airframe supposedly to save costs, but it looks like it will actually end up making the aircraft more expensive.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble