For a program that started out as a "technology demonstrator" to preserve the industrial base, this "low cost" system has morphed into a technology and jobs preservation program of the highest order. The senior suits at all the perpetrator, er, lead systems companies are to be congratulated, along with their Congressional sponsors. Avarice in the name of defense is always a fascinating beast to behold. And it's so easy to blame the services for changing the requirements rather than over-promising in the first place.
The term "cost savings" must now be entered into an updated Bullfinches Mythology, alongside such creatures as the Griffon and Minotaur. Not that the latest iteration of story telling should be singled out for excoriation; the equally fallacious "balanced budget" of the 1990's was also based on money "they" knew was going to be saved at some vague time in a bright and shining future, versus the hard cash being spent across the board at the time. (The Legislature of your own current abode did the same thing for several years under the former Governor.)
It remains to be seen which of the three versions will survive: The USAF and USN are both running through airframe life of their legacy Falcons and Hornets at an alarming pace. The Marines have one of the most awesome PR/lobbying forces on the face of the planet. HM government is still trying to decide how quickly they can redesign and cut metal for a CTOL CV flight deck if they go F-35C after all.
I mean, who doesn't want an award that the Barings Bank, Enron, Arthur Anderson and WorldCom etc. got in the past?
For a program that started out as a "technology demonstrator" to preserve the industrial base, this "low cost" system has morphed into a technology and jobs preservation program of the highest order. The senior suits at all the perpetrator, er, lead systems companies are to be congratulated, along with their Congressional sponsors. Avarice in the name of defense is always a fascinating beast to behold. And it's so easy to blame the services for changing the requirements rather than over-promising in the first place.
The term "cost savings" must now be entered into an updated Bullfinches Mythology, alongside such creatures as the Griffon and Minotaur. Not that the latest iteration of story telling should be singled out for excoriation; the equally fallacious "balanced budget" of the 1990's was also based on money "they" knew was going to be saved at some vague time in a bright and shining future, versus the hard cash being spent across the board at the time. (The Legislature of your own current abode did the same thing for several years under the former Governor.)
It remains to be seen which of the three versions will survive: The USAF and USN are both running through airframe life of their legacy Falcons and Hornets at an alarming pace. The Marines have one of the most awesome PR/lobbying forces on the face of the planet. HM government is still trying to decide how quickly they can redesign and cut metal for a CTOL CV flight deck if they go F-35C after all.
The plot thickens...if not totally curdles.