The "source" below is of course dreaming. For instance, why should Australia order jets that are under-tested and riddled with problems which will not be solved until many years? The Japan deal is based on there being a stable design. Korea has removed the stealth requirement from their next-generation fighter replacement. Israel is not a sale in the traditional sense as they get $3B per year in foreign military aid credits from the U.S. This is a form of creative money laundering.
Sources have told The Canberra Times the impact of the deferrals on the JSF program could be mitigated to a large degree by orders from Japan, which has just chosen the JSF over the Eurofighter and the Super Hornet, South Korea which is close to making a decision on its next fighter, and other nations such as Israel.
Any deferrals could also expedite the production of Australian planes by opening up spots on the Lockheed Martin production line.
Current production F-35s are grounded for pilot training until further notice at Eglin AFB due to numerous safety concerns.
2 comments:
Well, I would say Korea has "eased" the stealth requirement.
Before this, fighters without internal weapon bays would have been automatically disqualified, but now they can enter the F-X Phase 3 competition, although they will get zero score in internal weapon carriage, which is just one of many criteria.
What cards... Ya gotta love these guys, if only for trying so hard.
The desperately plaintive rationalizations of the JSFaithful never fail to remind me of the 'Noah's Ark' literalists, and their pitifully ridiculous scale zoo boat models, carefully constructed animal husbandry logistics charts, and preposterously unrealistic arguments.
Except, that is, when they remind me of the OTHER three famous 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' primates...
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