Good thing the F-35 has a CEO

Chief Evasion Officer that is.   Marillyn Hewson, chairwoman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, the particular military-industrial complex company that is making the most off of the F-35 told some carefully crafted, near-whoppers about the F-35's progress.  Guess that's why CEOs make the big bucks - no shame and little integrity.

 

http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2016/why-lockheed-ceos-f-35-remarks-ring-hollow.html 

 

Interesting reading and more good work from the folks at POGO, the Project on Government Oversight.

The Carrier That Almost Sank the Navy

It turns out the F-35 isn't the only ridiculously overpriced and underperforming weapons system the Pentagon has managed to foul up. 

 

There is an even earlier aircraft carrier fiasco on the Navy's side...and apparently the ship was delivered before it was even fully operational (similar to the "can't fly very far and can't shoot" F-35 delivered to the Marines). 

 

I wonder if F-35s will ever land on that thing?  Nah...Navy brass are too smart to let a plane that like that near their expensive new toy.....

F-35 Has Its Makeup On

There are rumors that the F-35 is at last ready to make it's debut in a service role.  For the Marines. You know, the ground-support role?  Except it has no operational cannon (it won't fit in the plane) limited air time, and no bombing capability due to munitions problems and several other issues as pointed out in the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) article here.

We won't even mention the very ineffective nature of the air support from the allies and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East in the new type of warfare that is being fought these days.

This would be funny if it wasn't so expensive, and the military is still trying to order more!  This is obviously a "for show" rollout or perhaps the stage debut for a heavily made-up star that never quite made it.

Pentagon Arrogance (err..I repeat myself)

The Pentagon has a  well-known and documented inability to do anything with tax money other than consume it endlessly then like a spoiled brat say "I'm hungry...more...more".  (See the Pentagon Spending item in the topic cloud bubble on the right).

What really grates though is when they actually say "What?  It can't be our fault...we are the perfect and beloved military". 

Another case has recently come to light about a rather large and extravagant expenditure in Afghanistan that was never used, except as this article wryly notes, "perhaps for target practice by the Taliban".

F-35 Fiasco Marches On

The latest news about the nearly a decade overdue and obscenely over budget F-35 is in, and if anything it is getting much worse.  The gurgling on this drain has just about stopped...the only thing remaining is only last, final belch as the whole thing disappears (unfortunately not without taking a lot of tax dollars straight into the under-performing defense industry with it).

For the latest on this plane that can't fly, shoot, keep the pilot safe (or even necessarily in control of the aircraft), here is a summary of the main problems, and here are the details, both courtesy of the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) which has been watching this expensive, slow-moving disaster unfold.

If you haven't been following this since the beginning, this is the first Pentagon weapons program that was purchased lock, stock, and barrel with a blank check based essentially on a bunch of notes scribbled on the back of napkin.  The defense contractors sold a Republican-dominated Congress on the concept of "trust us - we will design it as we go along and we will make you a great airplane".

Of course, receptive (of campaign contributions) Senators and Representatives of both parties thought that sounded like a good deal.  Oddly enough, one of the things the Pentagon agreed to in this unprecedented mess was that the defense contractors did not have to prove its combat readiness before approval of an initial production rate of 57 aircraft annually. 

For those with Neiman Marcus Christmas budgets, there may be some very pricey lawn ornaments available this year.        

Air Force Shenanigans

A follow-up to my earlier post on the campaign in the Air Force to get rid of the A-10 "Wart Hog" aircraft, a tried and true fighting machine that everyone except the Air Force brass wants to keep, partly because there is no faith that the dismal, incredibly expensive (and so far highly incompetent) F-35 is ever going to be able to take its place.

 

It turns out now that the Ari Force has been getting "creative" in what they let out in terms of statistics and data around the A-10: http://www.pogo.org/our-work/articles/2015/af-hq-declassified-and-released-incomplete-data.html.

 

Of course, one would hardly expect less of the Pentagon Sinkhole, which has been part of an ongoing series here and I am sure will continue to be for a long time to come.

Rent This F-35 Parking Space - Cheap!

Another bizarre twist to the ongoing saga of the grotesquely incompetent and dysfunctional F-35 program.  The British have a spanking new aircraft carrier all ready to handle the F-35, but due to program delays Britain is now not due to get any until about 2021.  So they are looking for renters:


http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30209960

What Is the Gas Mileage on That Thing?

It's been awhile since we visited the F-35, that overblown, can't shoot, and pilots don't want to fly money pit at the Pentagon. 

It turns out now the ongoing costs are stubbornly refusing to go down...they basically need an overhaul every few hours of use, and they were recently nixed from crossing the Atlantic....the "little" ocean!

Is It a Bird, a Plane? (Well, It's Supposed to Be!)

Comes the totally unsurprising word now that the F-35 is still broken (and still several times over budget).

The Marines have just grounded their whole fleet (for the tiny little reason that the engines have been bursting into flame) but if memory serves the Marines were the ones who got their first F-35s lacking some parts, like guns!  (Update -- the whole US fleet of F-35s has now been grounded).

If the Marines ever feel safe enough to actually fly all the way across the Atlantic in one of these things (where is Charles Lindbergh when you need him?), they now know they have a backup weapon - drop a flaming engine on the enemy!  Oh, wait...there is only one engine....scratch that idea.  Besides, the pilots apparently can't see well enough to aim anything at anyone anyway!
 

Naughty, Naughty Pentagon!

Sometimes I wonder if it is avarice, shrewdness, indifference, or just plain old incompetence that makes the Pentagon the worst run cabinet-level department almost since its inception.  At least a small part of the Senate (which is still getting a few things done, unlike the comatose House) is asking some pointed questions.

Thanks George and Dick!

There is no way to say for certain if Iraq would have fallen apart on its own by now, but there is very little doubt that the Molotov cocktail thrown into the country that accelerated things tremendously was George II's ill-advised, probably illegal, and trumped-up invasion of Iraq.  Not to mention the huge toll it took and is still taking, and will be taking on this country for decades to come.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27789229

Pentagon Goofiness

The Pentagon sometimes gets caught feeding its part of the "military-industrial complex" that Eisenhower warned us about.  The A-10 "Wart Hog" retirement is one of them.  An ugly, but deadly warplane...if you were the bad guy in any ground wars in the last few decades, you did not want to see this thing popping up over the horizon.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/critics-accuse-air-force-manipulating-data-support-10-retirement/

Compare that to the F-35 which costs more (pre-deployment) than any other weapons system ever dreamed up by the Pentagon (even Reagan's Star Wars joke cost less).

It's all your money folks....

More Than Meets the Press

If you believe (as I do) that there is a certain dirty or slimy feel to certain aspects of the ridiculous wars of the George II dynasty (err, I mean administration) then you might want to watch the Oscar-nominated "Dirty Wars". 

Here is an interview with one of the principals of the film and what they saw and endured to get this story.  Not only is there an undercurrent of dishonesty, but an implication at least that these practices are being carried forward to the future. 

(Note also the sense of journalistic integrity -- they did not run with everything they knew or felt strongly was true, but only what they had convincing proof for -- take that Internet gossip sites (and FoxNews of course) !).

The Real F-35 Story

The 60 Minutes report that I posted about unfortunately turned out to be a disappointing fluff piece, interviewing only proponents of the program from the Pentagon and elsewhere. There was a minimal amount of tsk-tsking and hand wringing about "gee we know it costs a lot" (but it isn't my money.....so send some more...). 

60 Minutes journalistic quality has slipped in several areas in the last few years, and I no longer trust them as much as I once did.  However, I had hoped with a program so deeply flawed and based on such ridiculous assumptions from the outset as the F-35 they would do better.

Fortunately the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) stepped into the breach.  This article is an interview with Winslow Wheeler, director of POGO's Straus Military Reform Project which is full of interesting and insightful analysis into that tax-dollar cesspool we call the Pentagon.

He mentions a website that is dedicated to tracking the F-35 abomination and hopefully spurring people to do something about it.

Both the POGO page and the website have this video, but it is important enough that I am posting it here as well.

    

My only regret is that I did not coin "The Jet That Ate the Pentagon", but then again with the prevailing attitude in Washington DC of "just keep pouring money onto it" where the Pentagon is concerned it may not be possible for any program to actually "eat the Pentagon".

This Rock Still Isn't Ready

Pilots have already heaped scorn on the way, way, way over budget and under performing F-35 ("the plane you can't see to operate". 

The claims for "benefits" of this money black hole are also exaggerated it seems, though that is hardly surprising for the Pentagon, who after all thought the never-functional "Star Wars" program was a great idea.

The saga continues, nobody likes this poor orphan......

I'm Calling BS!

There is a lot of backslapping and congratulations on the "bipartisan budget deal" that President Obama signed today.  The sound of politician's arms patting themselves on the back is almost deafening, but in reality this is still light years from where how the budget process is supposed to work.  There are specific dates in law that are to be met for the Executive to submit to Congress a budget request for the next year.

Throughout all of this recent mess the Executive branch has been doing quite a lot better at meeting its dates than Congress.  Congress just never bothered to pass any kind of a budget for the years 2011, 2012, or 2013 (law requires them to pass it by April 15)...instead relying on a bunch of "here's a check to tide you over" resolutions that shut down large parts of the government (but left the profligate money-spewers at the Pentagon largely unhampered). 

Instead of any congratulations...all 535 members of Congress should be slinking off home to write their resignation letters, for the crime of perpetrating fraud on the American citizen and taxpayer.     

In other words...BS to the "miraculous budget deal"!

Pentagon Waste - Carrying on a Proud Tradition

I have written elsewhere in this blog about the proudly un-auditable Pentagon waste machine that shreds (or just plain loses) taxpayer dollars each and every day and seems very unconcerned about it.  (Of course, all they have to do is ask the Repubs for more I guess). 

Reuters is now taking its own look at it, putting a very human face on some of the very real victims -- US service men and women.  Then in the second part they outline how the Pentagon literally cannot keep track of anything...not just money.

F-35 Strikes...The Pentagon...Again

The unbelievably incompetent saga of the Pentagon and the F-35 continues.  The Pentagon's own auditor, the Defense Department Office of the Inspector General says that the Pentagon oversight was both "inadequate" and "ineffective".

At this point in the costly debacle (follow the Pentagon Spending tag in the cloud on the right side of the blog or search for 'F-35'), I think the only appropriate comment is...."no s*it Sherlock"!!!

The Pentagon Again!

It appears the Washington Navy Yard used "unusual procedures" to acquire a security system that doesn't work.  

Why am I not surprised???

Military Aid Spending

As sort of a follow up to the prior post, here is an interesting chart to play around with.  You can sort the columns by clicking at the top of each one.

While the total spending involved on military aid is far less than one percent of federal spending as noted in the sidebar, one can wonder at some anomalies since we seem to be bent on financing the maximum number of arms and bombs on both sides of any conflict that comes along.

Some observations:

• We are pouring money into Israel, that immoral "bad boy" of the Middle East.  They lead the pack for military aid in almost every category no matter how you sort it.  Sorting by 2010 numbers puts our "very good buddy" Afghanistan on top as would be expected, but Israel is head and shoulders above everyone else.
• And, of course Egypt is in second place behind Israel.  We have had a rather bizarre implied deal with Egypt for the last several decades "you don't attack Israel (which we are arming against you) and we will send you arms to attack Israel (only don't tell us you are using them for that)".
• In fact, if you look at the top ten or eleven countries (depending on how you sort them) I would have to say that absolutely none of them are "friends" or reliable allies (including Israel), yet we continue to send them guns, bombs, and warplanes?
• Oddity - why did we ever send aid to North Korea?
• Question - Why are Fiji, Singapore, Bahamas, Jamaica, Finland, Micronesia, China(?) all military aid recipients?
• Why, looking at all the aid from 1946-2010 is Vietnam #2, Egypt #3, South Korea #4, Afghanistan #8 and Iraq #10?  Loser's remorse?