The Pentagon is giving ample signals that the F-35 fighter, America’s most expensive weapons project, does not have the multipurpose and affordable future it was granted a few decades ago and will not eventually become the F-16’s replacement. because “nobody drives a Ferrari to work every day”.
The last to point out that the F-35 will not be America’s new light tactical fighter was Air Force Commander General Charles Brown, who last week suggested starting a new project from scratch to replace the F-16. of which the thousand units make it the most important American fighter.
Invisible plane
Despite the F-35, the most expensive weapon system in U.S. history, having an estimated price tag of more than $ 1.5 trillion over several decades, its goal seems to be to become invisible in the main plane to the radars of the three branches of the armed forces that need it: the air force, the navy, and the Marine Corps.
In an intervention for defense experts and journalists on Wednesday last week, Brown, the Air Force chief since August last year, said he does not want to order new units of the F-16, which he compared to a classic plane from the 1970s. nor the F-35A the light variant intended for its pilots.
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 project is plagued with delays, associated cost increases, design changes, and bugs that have yet to be resolved, despite its maiden flight taking place 15 years ago.
The Pentagon has tried to postpone what seems to be an obvious failure of the F-35 as a multipurpose aircraft by updating the F-16s and delaying plans to launch the tactical version of the F-35. mass production, of which more than 1,700 units would have to be produced at a cost of more than $ 100 million.
While these aircraft are a simplified version of the F-35C (Armada, with a unit cost of $ 117 million) and F-35B (Marines, with a cost of $ 135 million), they represent an exorbitant price for routine operations . according to some voices within the Pentagon in the vast network of US bases around the world.
KNOWING MORE
Issues
Problems have been identified in the engines when they exhibit supersonic speeds or malfunctions affecting their invisibility in radars or when it comes to being maneuverable enough in direct combat with the enemy.
Position
The United States wants to maintain its defensive position in the world and continue to counter the influence of Russia and especially the emerging China, which is playing an increasingly aggressive role in the South China Sea.