The Jet that Ate the Pentagon

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Nice 9 minute video on the F-35

Found it at the Project on Open Government
http://www.pogo.org/blog/2014/02/her...-the-f-35.html
My favorite bit of the article:

POGO: How has Lockheed Martin been able to continue with the program, despite the cost overruns and delays?
Wheeler: Lockheed-Martin cannot design effectively performing, affordable combat aircraft, but they are without peer in designing a greasy plan to foist the aircraft on the US and multiple foreign buyers. I am in awe of their skill in doing that; they successfully convince otherwise rational people to ignore empirical data, to believe that press releases spout biblical truth and to embrace new promises in the face of scores of broken ones. Those are awesome powers.

[jk]

Re: The Jet that Ate the Pentagon

spinney, boyd, lind were making the same points in the 1980's. one of them [spinney or lind, i think] wrote a book on defense reform that projected that in x years the cost of 1 fighter jet would equal the whole pentagon budget.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: The Jet that Ate the Pentagon

spinney, boyd, lind were making the same points in the 1980's. one of them [spinney or lind, i think] wrote a book on defense reform that projected that in x years the cost of 1 fighter jet would equal the whole pentagon budget.

Great book on Boyd of OODA Loop fame:

http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-The-Fight...mm_kin_title_0

[vinoveri]

Re: The Jet that Ate the Pentagon

spinney, boyd, lind were making the same points in the 1980's. one of them [spinney or lind, i think] wrote a book on defense reform that projected that in x years the cost of 1 fighter jet would equal the whole pentagon budget.

just another data point confirming that truth and common sense are routinely ignored when they conflict with ambition