AlterNet: "Fail! The $400 Billion Military Jet That Can't Fly in Cloudy Weather
The F-35 joint strike fighter is an unbelievable failure, and the perfect illustration of everything that's wrong with our military industrial complex.
The F-35 is a nuclear-capable weapon of mass destruction that was supposed to be the "fighter of the future" when it was undertaken in 2001. Now, more than a decade overdue and more than 100% over budget, the plane is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over its useful life, of which about $400 billion has already been spent.
100th F-35 Being Built, None Yet Operational
The report's executive summary gives a sense of what some of the "current restrictions" of the F-35 are:
Aircraft operating limitations prohibit flying the aircraft at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, hence pilots must avoid clouds and other weather. These restrictions are in place because testing has not been completed to certify the aircraft for night and instrument flight.
The aircraft also is currently prohibited from flying close formation, aerobatics, and stalls, all of which would normally be in the familiarization phase of transition training.
The F-35A does not yet have the capability to train in these phases, nor any actual combat capability, because it is still early in system development.
Also, little can be learned from evaluating training in a system this immature.
The radar, the pilot's helmet-mounted display (HMD), and the cockpit interfaces for controlling the radios and navigational functions should be improved."