The head of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) office recently informed the DOD F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program decision-makers that a comprehensive testing plan known as the Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP) will not be approved over questions of the troubled fighter program's progress, reports AOL Defense.
The DOD OT&E boss, Michael Gilmore wrote a memo dated 21 August to various DOD officials stating that the F-35 program leadership must specify how they will test the aircraft's electronic warfare capabilities, match up the flight testing program to funding as part of a credible plan and address concerns about "overlap of developmental testing with the start of operational test activity".
Until he is satisfied on those matters, the TEMP will not be approved. AOL Defense also reports that Gilmore wrote that he won't approve the TEMP if it "imposes unrealistic and unachievable schedule risk" on operational testing.
While AOL Defense reports that Gilmore "does not have the authority to make programmatic decisions", this is no small matter.
Besides OT&E doing their job of warning about faulty DOD weapons test plans, the office is also performing continuous CYA in case the F-35 goes even more off the rails than it already has.
This also makes one wonder what the United States Marketing Corps boss, General Amos, is thinking if the jet is no where near being capable of operational test which is needed to have a usable go-to-war configured jet.
2 comments:
Very good posting... We can only hope that most people who read the article understand what it signifies... Even those with a major part to play in getting to completion this monstrosity, understand the NATURE of the monstrosity. No matter how hard you spin the F-35 hype, no matter how hard you want to BELIEVE the F-35 is gunna be affordable within the reality of today's economy, it doesn't change some very simple facts: Overly ambitious, overly concurrent, overly expensive, overly burdened with unproven/unfinished technology, and most of all, overly reliant on an unrealistic test and delivery requirement because of all that.
They are all just re arranging deck chairs on the Titanic
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