tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post7378787523013457084..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: The Priciest Example of Buyer's Remorse in Human HistoryThe Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-10898582926993561272018-09-20T08:42:54.958-07:002018-09-20T08:42:54.958-07:00It has been a full court press marketing job, Karl...<br />It has been a full court press marketing job, Karl, and it has been brilliant. Lockheed bears blame but so too does the US government that chose the "buy before you fly" approach.<br /><br />Since man first tied a rock to a stick to make a club there hasn't been a new weapon that didn't have a limited shelf life. The US employed nukes against Japan. Russia had nukes four years later. The Brits introduced tanks in WWI. Germany had its tank a year or two later.<br /><br />The F-35 was never much more than a prototype. One reason its such a marginal performer is that it's such a squat airframe to allow it to be built in three variants. Designers also had to find ways to put everything inside, no external stores. They ran out of space. There's even a fuel bladder that has to be draped over the engine. Can you say "ground fire"? There are so many compromises that would have been solved in a post-prototypical airplane.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-36344943621984013772018-09-19T17:58:57.325-07:002018-09-19T17:58:57.325-07:00You're right, Sal. The original name, War Mini...<br />You're right, Sal. The original name, War Ministry, is far more accurate.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-2537122559587342622018-09-19T17:58:01.780-07:002018-09-19T17:58:01.780-07:00The F-35 has worked out beautifully for the war co...The F-35 has worked out beautifully for the war contractors who build it as well as for the all the retired generals and admirals hired to lobby for it, and the CONgresscritters who take gobs of campaign contributions from said companies to approve every aspect of it without question. All you have to do is drive around the ritzier parts of the DC area (where I live) and see all the McMansions and luxury cars and SUVs that were all purchased from taxpayer money spent on this boondoggle as well as countless others. It's legalized bribery, and I guarantee you that no one in Washington will EVER be held accountable for its failure. <br /><br />Try to to attack all of this corruption and you'll be labelled as being "against the troops" and promptly run out of town by the media, who are all owned by huge conglomerates that include the war contractors (cough cough, MSNBC, cough cough). This is why Trump doesn't upset me--he's small potatoes compared to the vast, profit-taking war machine that he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. The last president to hint that he at least wanted to slow it down got a bullet to the brain pan for his troubles.Karl Kolchaknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-63702277022044422232018-09-19T17:35:47.613-07:002018-09-19T17:35:47.613-07:00.. ah, the wonders of 'military procurement..... ah, the wonders of 'military procurement' - Canada has such a trail of failure on that file.. going back quite a ways.. choppers, supply ships, search and rescue, used tanks, busted submarines.. oh the dilemma of trying to work in lockstep to the US of A Britain and Australia.. etc etc.. and yet the glamour of posing for photos inside the prototypes or weaponry is so irresistable ! Or slipping into a bomber jacket or desert khaki camo and stylin some sunglasses. Well, the F-35 may yet be chosen to be the greatest procurement boondoggle in Canadian history.. I do wonder at times why we call it the Ministry of Defense.. when its more and more about offensive foreign military adventurism that we can't really afford.. and meanwhile we cannot defend our own shorelines.. (sometimes referred to as 'tidewater' .. dontcha know, by political animals) the salamanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853337802990122289noreply@blogger.com