F-35 budget predictions for DOD FY2015

The F-35 is not operationally viable but here is where DOD seems to be at the moment for the FY2015 budget.

34 F-35s in the FY2015 budget. 8 less than planned.

26A, 6B and 2C. I suspect that lack of carrier capability proof is what is holding up C production. 2 must be the minimum to maintain existing "learning curve".

The F-35C is 15 percent overweight to its 2002 design goals.

This is an increase from the 29 of last year.

No breakdown of foreign jets yet.

The updated 5-year defense plan which is always subject to change by year calls for 55 F-35s in 2016 (7 fewer than planned); 96 in 2019 (good luck).

What has been additionally troubling with this program is that it has been eating funds best used for other war-fighter communities.

The original F-35 plan crafted many years ago, showed 170 F-35s per year for this time frame.

That is a big cut in orders and a significant loss of profit for F-35 worldwide industry partners.

Yet another promise broken because of incompetent program management.


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-Time's Battleland - 5 Part series on F-35 procurement - 2013 
-Summary of Air Power Australia F-35 points
-Aviation Week (ARES blog) F-35 posts (2007 to present)
-U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) F-35 reports
-F-35 JSF: Cold War Anachronism Without a Mission
-History of F-35 Production Cuts
-Looking at the three Japan contenders (maneuverability)
-How the Canadian DND misleads the public about the F-35
-Value of STOVL F-35B over-hyped
-Cuckoo in the nest--U.S. DOD DOT&E F-35 report is out
-6 Feb 2012 Letter from SASC to DOD boss Panetta questioning the decision to lift probation on the F-35B STOVL.
-USAFs F-35 procurement plan is not believable
-December 2011 Australia/Canada Brief
-F-35 Key Performance Perimeters (KPP) and Feb 2012 CRS report
-F-35 DOD Select Acquisition Report (SAR) FY2012
-Release of F-35 2012 test report card shows continued waste on a dud program
-Australian Defence answers serious F-35 project concerns with "so what?"
-Land of the Lost (production cut history update March 2013)
-Outgoing LM F-35 program boss admits to flawed weight assumptions (March 2013)
-A look at the F-35 program's astro-turfing
-F-35 and F-16 cost per flying hour
-Is this aircraft worth over $51B of USMC tac-air funding?
-Combat radius and altitude, A model
-F-35A, noise abatement and airfields and the USAF
-Deceptive marketing practice: F-35 blocks
-The concurrency fraud
-The dung beetle's "it's known" lie


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