Green Senator's first confirmed kill is RAAF boss misleading public over F-35

Monday Australian time, Senate estimates met over the F-35 program and will continue to look into various Defence matters during the week.

A Green Senator, Scott Ludlam wiped the floor with the CDF, Chief of the RAAF, Head of the DMO, boss of the New Air Combat Capability office (in charge of managing marketing the F-35 program) and a few other bureaucrats.

(36 minute video here.)

He catches the DMO boss saying that, "costs are tracking as predicted". This is not true because there is no working F-35 to look at...for years.

As an example, here is what the Australian public was told some years ago.

-It's about $37 million for the CTOL aircraft, which is the air force variant."
- Colonel Dwyer Dennis, U.S. JSF Program Office brief to Australian journalists, 2002-
". . . US$40 million dollars . . "
-Senate Estimates/Media Air Commodore John Harvey, AM Angus Houston, Mr Mick Roche, USDM, 2003-
" . . US$45 million in 2002 dollars . ."
-JSCFADT/Senate Estimates, Air Commodore John Harvey, Mr Mick Roche, USDM, 2003/2004-
". . average unit recurring flyaway cost of the JSF will be around US$48 million, in 2002 dollars . . "
-Senate Estimates/Press Club Briefing, Air Commodore John Harvey, 2006
". . the JSF Price (for Australia) - US$55 million average for our aircraft . . in 2006 dollars . ."
-Senate Estimates/Media AVM John Harvey ACM Angus Houston, Nov. 2006-

NACC even went so far as to say that full-rate production would happen somewhere around LRIP-11. This is yet to happen and not a good wager based on history. And that we get 3i software in the 2 mistake-jets delivered next month.3i is nothing more than the woefully ineffective Block 2B configured to work on the new computer hardware. Hint: 4th-generation aircraft (like a Typhoon or big SU) that are said to be essentially worthless by the fibbers at the Defence table will detect and kill the F-35 without even working up a sweat.

King (DMO) implied not to worry, the rebaselining years ago fixed any major F-35 risks.

For the new viewers, look at the links at the end of this post to see if you agree with that.

The Senator hits hard and shows that any claim that money was set aside for the $24B expense for 58 F-35s is nonsense. The weak response from the table shows it. Future budget estimates are just that.

Nothing more.

There is no pool of money just sitting there waiting for the F-35.

Ludlam then baits the table. He mentions the F-35B STOVL in passing and gets the table to respond to the poor senator as if he needs help in that Australia is only getting the A-model.

Ludlam hits them with the truth stating that the fat/heavy flying piano B STOVL requirements have polluted the whole family of aircraft. This is very true.

The RAAF boss dies a hard death at the table. He acts like a spoiled brat when being confronted on the F-35s woeful performance. He acts insulted and only has his alleged flying ability (I flew a plane. You and your critics have not).

This fails in the face of the evidence of the program's trouble.

The table fall back on the fairy tail of a "5th generation" aircraft being better than anything else. That somehow the F-35 is only slightly different than an F-22.

This by itself is misleading.

The RAAF boss does a 100 percent probability of kill with the ground with these end statements which are grossly untrue.

Senator: "How confident are you in the stealth characteristics of the aircraft?"
RAAF boss: "I'm extremly confident in the stealth charachteristics of the aircraft. Its..its comprable to an F-22 which is proven to be a good 5th-generation fighter".
....and they are very difficult for anyone else to replilcate."

Defence is misleading elected officials. They are misleading you.

All for a very expensive flying club.

The video is must-see.

---

-Time's Battleland - 5 Part series on F-35 procurement - 2013 
-Summary of Air Power Australia F-35 points
-Bill Sweetman, Aviation Week and the F-35
-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
-F-35's air-to-air ability limited
-F-35 Blocks--2006 and today
-The F-35B design is leaking fuel


“It will affordable because already there are 3,000 aircraft on the order books.”
—27 June 2002, Air Marshal Houston, Defence press announcement, Australia joins the F-35 program

-New Defence White Paper fails to address Australia's core security needs
-2009 Defence White Paper Fantasy
-Analysing "The ADF Air Combat Capability- On the Record"
-Find out who is responsible for the Air Warfare Destroyer mess
-Analysis of Defence Materiel Organisation Major Projects Management and What Needs to be Fixed
-New DMO Boss warns the staff that business as usual is over
-How dangerous is the Defence Material Organisation to our Defence Industry?
-Australia's Failing Defence Structure and Management Methodology
-More on the dud-jamming gear Defence wants to buy
-ADF cost per flying hour
-I will wipe out bullying vows new Defence chief (Houston 2005)
-Vacancy
-Put Vol 2 Report of DLA Piper Review into the light of day
-Rory and Jim
-Parasitism as an Abstraction for Organizational Dysfunctions
-Hobart-class "Air Warfare Destroyer" to be fielded with obsolete radar guidance technology
-The Decay Of Critical Military Thinking And Writing-With Particular Reference To The RAAF
-Newspaper guy gets it right about sub project.... big time
-The great M-1 tank myth