Did we get involved in a lemon?

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/f-35/




Analysis | Military Industrial Complex
military industrial complex f-35
Dan Grazier

Dec 18, 2024

Elon Musk has turned his attention to the F-35 program, and he isn’t impressed. The world’s richest man – who owns SpaceX, the sole provider of reliable American space launches – threw shade at the most expensive weapon program in history in a post on X on November 25.



Elon Musk is absolutely right…and not just because I have been saying the exact same thing for a decade!

The American people need to come to grips with the fact that the F-35 program is a complete flop. Most leaders of the national security establishment are unlikely to say so in such blunt terms, but some of them are now tacitly admitting the truth probably without realizing they are.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, effectively the hometown newspaper for the F-35 program, recently published an article loaded with quotes from lawmakers, defense officials, and university professors. They all made an economic argument to defend the program.

That should send shivers down the spine of every Lockheed Martin executive. When the best argument that can be made for a weapon program is its economic impact, it is clear the program has limited military value.

For a program in development for more than 23 years, at the expense of nearly $300 billion so far, the American people have received little in return. New F-35s coming off the Fort Worth assembly line have only limited combat capabilities. It will reportedly take years for engineers to complete the hardware and software necessary for new F-35s to achieve full combat capability. The jets already in service have demonstrated an appalling lack of reliability. During all of 2023, the F-35 fleet only managed a 30% full mission capable rate.

Human error caused HMNZS Manawanui wreck, says NZ interim report

https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/naval/15182-human-error-caused-hmnzs-manawanui...

Gordon wrote on Jan 18^th, 2025 at 7:26pm:




Jasin wrote on Jan 18^th, 2025 at 8:52pm:



Yes Gordon and JaSin,
the captain was part of the DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion policy of the NZ Govt.
There should be many people on board who knew that
" the ship’s autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been"

However the idea of putting a carpet muncher in charge of a ship is now called into question.

Gordon wrote on Jan 18^th, 2025 at 9:11pm:



That's OK - I have stolen a few of his links too.   

Surely Trump wouldn't sell F-35s to India after they
broke the embargo on Russian oil and bought up heaps of it?   


https://www.timesofisrael.com/meeting-modi-trump-names-israel-as-a-waypoint-on-p...

Today

Meeting Modi, Trump names Israel as a waypoint on proposed US-India trade route
US president announces extradition to India of suspect in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which included deadly assault on Chabad House;






Successive US administrations have seen India as a key partner with like-minded interests in the face of a rising China, and Trump announced that the new administration was ready to sell one of the top US military prizes — F-35s.

“Starting this year, we’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump told a joint news conference with Modi.

I thought the F-35s - supersonic stealth fighters were reserved only
for those in a special club like Australia.
Now they are selling them to India.  WTF?

https://michaelwest.com.au/aukus-9b-to-us-and-uk-shipyards-but-wait-theres-more/




Rex Patrick reports.


Image: General Dynamics Electric Boat




Make Australia pay again?

The future of Whyalla’s steelworks is of vital national importance and should matter to all of us. It is critical to Australia’s manufacturing, construction and national security and resilience.

Being frank, the steelworks are in dire straits. They are 60 years old and have been on a rocky road for well over a decade. Its blast furnace has been out of action for over six months now, and whilst there is some optimism that they will get it back up and running it will not change the fact that the steelworks have been in operation for some six decades.

In 2016, when the previous owner, Arrium, went into administration with $4 billion in debts, UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance bought the steelworks, making lots of big promises for a bright future, but it was not to be. At the turn of the decade, Greensill Capital, GFG’s financier, collapsed and there’s been trouble ever since.

As it stands, the future of the steelworks and Whyalla is in the hands of a court-entangled foreign billionaire with a gaping chasm between his promises and delivery. Those promises of a 21st century industrial transformation look very much like ever receding mirages.

The Federal Government needs to have the SA Government bring matters to a head by putting GFG’s South Australian operations into administration (by calling for unpaid and overdue mining royalties), taking an equity stake in the steelworks alongside someone like BlueScope Steel, and investing the necessary billions to build a new green steel industry for Australia.

It would be a part of Make Australia pay again.

But that’s not happening. Instead, it’s

But that’s not happening. Instead, it’s

Make America great again!
Prime Minister Albanese’s focus is on investment in US industry, not Australian industry.

In September 2023, the Federal Government announced it was pouring $4.7 billion ($US3B) into the US submarine industrial base to assist the largest economy in the world in getting their submarine production rate up to 2.3 subs per annum (from the current rate of 1.4 subs).

Some $1.5 billion will be paid to the US this financial year and $1.8 billion next financial year. The remaining $1.4B will follow thereafter.

The geniuses in the Department of Defence have set up a regime where, if for any reason the US can’t deliver (it is highly unlikely they will ever make the 2.3 subs required) or won’t deliver (more on that possibility below), we get exactly none of the money back.

The Government is shy about spending money on steelworks, which they would have complete control over, in terms of success, but are happy to recklessly throw money at US shipyards.

Go figure!

Make Great Britain great again, too!
That’s not the end of the story, though.

The British are in on this deal of a lifetime too. They’ve managed to pull $4.4B (£2.4 billion) over the next decade from Australian consolidated revenue.

There is no clawback on payment to the United Kingdom either.

Everyone must be feeling pretty chuffed in Groton, Connecticut, and Barrow-in-Furness, England.

But wait, there’s more!   ......................