The F-35's Lowered Expectations

Now it's not only way over-budget, way overdue but the Pentagon is having to lower its performance requirements so it won't have to call the F-35 a complete turkey.

If the plane can't achieve its specified combat radius, change the specifications.   If it can't land within the specified runway length, tack on 10% more runway.

If the Pentagon keeps this up, maybe the F-35 won't actually have to fly at all.   The range issue is a biggie for Canada.   The F-35A's initial specified combat range was an underwhelming 590-nautical miles.   That's a pittance when you're talking about defending the airspace over our Great White North.

US Air Force chief of staff, General Norton Schwartz, told reporters that downgrading the F-35's range requirement "is more cost-effective than modifying the fighter to meet performance goals set a decade ago."

Meanwhile DefMin MacKay's trained seal,  Julian Fantino, keeps pumping out the nonsense about the F-35 being the best plane to protect Canadian sovereignty, a role it's hopelessly incapable of performing with its limited range, payload and single-engine performance.

A USAF F-35 training mission was flown for the first time today from Eglin air force base, Florida.   The mission lasted just 15-minutes as the pilot declared an in-flight emergency due to fuel leakage and quickly got the aircraft back on the ground.