Procurement: Blowing Smoke For the F-35

[unhappycamper]

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20140202.aspx



Procurement: Blowing Smoke For the F-35

February 2, 2014: The U.S. Department of Defense is being accused of deception for refusing to admit the true cost of the new F-35 in the face of growing cuts in the military budget. Despite these cuts the Department of Defense will not change the number of F-35s ordered nor the unit cost that should be increased becasue of these cuts. Something has to give. The U.S. Air Force still expects to get production models of its 31 ton F-35A in late 2016. This is the cheapest version, costing about $159 million each. The U.S. Navy version (the F-35C) will arrive in late 2019 and cost about $264 million each. This version has a stronger landing gear to handle carrier landings and components that are more resistant to corrosion from constant exposure to salt water. The vertical take-off version for the marines, the F-35B, will cost $214 million each. All of these prices are expected to be much higher (20 percent or more) in reality.

Meanwhile there are the seemingly endless delays. The manufacturer of the F-35 has assured the Department of Defense that the F-35 would begin entering service in 2015. At least the vertical take-off F-35B model will. The F-35B, which will replace the AV-8B, is a 27 ton aircraft that can carry six tons of weapons and is stealthy. In vertical takeoff mode the F-35B will carry about twice the weapons as the Harrier and have about twice the range (800 kilometers). The F-35 has been delayed many times in the last decade and there has even been talk of cancellation. Orders have already been cut and the manufacturer is under a lot of pressure to get the new stealth aircraft into service.

That solves the scheduling problems, at least on paper. But the increasing costs of theF-35 are scaring off foreign buyers. These users have noted that the F-35 costs 60 percent more (than the F-16, per flight hour) to operate. For European nations, with static or shrinking defense budgets and growing demands to help with peacekeeping operations, more expensive (to buy and operate) jet fighters just don’t fit in.

Initially the F-35 operating costs were supposed to be the same or lower than other fighters (like the F-16, F-15, or F-18). But then it was noted that those operating costs were creeping upwards. In 2011 the U.S. Air Force came around to agreeing with U.S. Navy claims that the F-35 will cost much more to maintain, rather than (as the F-35 promoters insisted) less. In 2010 the navy, after nervously watching the manufacturing costs of the new F-35C and F-35B carrier aircraft increase, concluded that these aircraft would a lot more expensive to maintain. It comes down to this. At that time it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff or F-18C fighter aircraft. The navy calculated that it would cost 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (which will replace the F-18C) and the F-35B (which will replace the AV-8). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots, the aircraft, and purchasing expendable items (fuel, spare parts and munitions). The navy concluded that maintenance alone would be about a third more.

[pscot]

1. This pretty much defines

waste, fraud and abuse.