The top Marine General Amos got hammered today by one of the chairs of the senate armed services committee (SASC), senator John McCain.
Amos was unable to clarify that he had any reasonable knowledge on F-35 cost and F-35 program risk. He was one of the people that convinced the unaware DOD Boss Panetta to remove the probation on the F-35B program.
As this letter shows, that didn't turn out too well.
2 comments:
Good shot for McCain, but c'mon. A bit too little too late now!?
McCain was the elemental voice back in 2009 ensuring an absolute stay the course F-35 mentality, despite all the GAO warnings and other criticism he should have picked up on being an expert himself, right?
His convincing voice and determined policy back then locked in the ultimate results that US Armed forces are witnessing today: ie no supplemental 4.5 gen stopgap plan for the USAF and USMC, while simultaneously prematurely ending the F-22 line.
Sure he has a right to be upset now, but truly what good is that going to do? Where is his own accountability in this Tacair disaster? Perhaps he can take a decisive stand even this late in the game and orchestrate some form of retro-funding in FY13 appropriations and transfer some F-35B procurement funds to acquire a mix of Super Tucano/AT-6B and Super Hornets? That would be some leadership one could respect.
God speed.
Good point above.
I think the Super Tucano ship has irrevocably sailed now that the Middle East and Afghanistan are completely over (so the DOD hallucinates). Shame, 40 or 50 of them in Afghanistan a few years ago would have paid for themselves in fuel savings alone, not to mention effectiveness. The USAF put off taking these COIN wars seriously fooling themselves pretending they'll be over any day now for 11 straight years or so.
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