Mr. Smith's trip to the U.S.

Defence Minister Smith is headed toward the U.S. for a variety of meetings.

One of those will have to do about the troubled F-35 program that the previous Defence Minister was gullible enough to show commitment.

Reminder; one is allowed to break the cycle of poor procurement decisions by previous DM’s. Mr. Smith has already shown some promise by engineering a coup to get rid of the head of the DMO. Now if he can only find a way to get rid of the DMO.

So what are some of the problems with the F-35 program; besides the fact that it is a running sore?

Consider the following.

One of the paid mouth-pieces for the program has stated that the aircraft might not be produced in the hoped for numbers. Less orders means more cost and less profit for industry. With the current program delays, industry is already worried.

Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components are a big issue with this aircraft. There is a reason weapons systems in the past use “mil-spec” requirements. That is so that the military gets what it needs. Guess who makes most of the COTS components? China. This is a huge security risk and, a huge supply chain risk. Along with this there are the risks of the fox telling the farmer the definition of a chicken. Where, the vendor of these parts defines how reliable they are. This issue could be the last of many straws making the F-35 combat hopes a bridge too far.

Cost of the F-35 is still so very unknown.

Mr. Smith, like it or not, will be judged by his press releases and interviews on the topic. If his answer is to stay the course, he will be so very much wrong.

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