The F-35… I don’t think there has been an aircraft in recent years that has sparked so much debate among aviation enthusiasts, and I’m no exception. The debate sparks plenty of emotions in people once it starts, we are all passionate about our opinion and most have set themselves up on one side of the fence or the other between supporting the program or wanting to cut it. The problem is there are so many sides to this debate that it can be difficult to wrap my head around all of it. I’m not an expert, and I will freely admit that my knowledge of the program and its problems is far less than others. I won’t shy away from others opinions and facts, in fact I encourage it, I want to learn and expand my knowledge on this topic. On that note lets begin!
Lets start off with a brief background on the F-35 program before we start. During the 90′s the Air Force, Navy and Marines all knew that in 15-20 years they would need a replacement for various aircraft in service at that time due to the aircraft becoming obsolete or no longer air worthy. A request was issued for an aircraft that was stealthy, supersonic, maneuverable, and most importantly an affordable aircraft that could be jointly developed for the 3 different service branches. A Conventional landing and takeoff version for the Air Force to replace older F-16s and A-10s, a Carrier capable version for the Navy to replace the Legacy F/A-18A/B/Cs and A-6 Intruder and a Short Take Off and Vertical Landing version for the Marines to replace their AV-8B Harriers. 3 initial teams proposed designs for the competition, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. McDonnell Douglas’ design was eliminated early leaving Lockheed Martin and Boeing as the remaining design teams. Joining Lockheed Martin in 1997 was Northrop Grumman and British Aerospace. Both teams were ordered to develop a demonstrator aircraft that were to compete against each other before a final design was chosen. Boeing entered their X-32 design while Lockheed submitted their X-35 design. Both teams achieved first flights in 2000 and eventually Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to produce the F-35 while Pratt and Whitney was awarded the contract to produce the F135 engine. The F135 was to be the most powerful fighter engine ever produced, creating an astonishing 43,000 pounds of thrust. On October 26th 2001, the Department of Defense made the decision to go ahead with the F-35 program. That decision that day was the start of a program surrounded in controversy.
The most glaring issue with the F-35 program is the skyrocketing costs. This aircraft was originally supposed to be a $60-$80 million dollars per aircraft in which the U.S. was going to order just under 2,500 aircraft for a projected program cost of around $191 billion. The F-35 was looked at as a 5th generation aircraft that could be more capable than previous aircraft and be relatively affordable, unfortunately that wasn’t going to be the case. Soon Lockheed was having significant delays with the program. Not only did they have to fix major problems in 1 prototype, they had to fix them in 3! While all three airframes enjoy a relatively high percentage of commonality, each prototype also requires different means to fix the problems that occurred. Some of the biggest delays occurred in the U.S. Marine Corp/Royal Navys F-35B STOVL variant. The F135 engine was brand new and the most powerful engine ever put into a fighter and the lift fan system installed on the F-35B was something never done before, it was completely new and having significant problems with compressor, lift fan and other problems. It hasn’t gotten close to the required tests flights this far into the program. The delays are not exclusive in just the B variant of the F-35, there were delays in the A and C versions as well but those problems so far have been solved and both variants are meeting or almost meeting the amount of test flights required. Because of all the delays, every allied nation that committed to funding the program and purchasing their own F-35s have reduced their original orders.
With a reduction in orders common sense tells us that the individual price of each aircraft is going to rise due to less airframes being produced. It also doesn’t help that the world economy took a turn for the worst requiring nations to drastically reduce defense spending to make ends meet. Ask Great Britain and the Royal Navy and Air Force about these drastic military spending cuts. The Royal Navy has lost ALL of its Harriers, its current carriers are being retired and only one of its two future carriers is going to be deployed, the other being mothballed. The Air Force will operate with only 7 fast jet squadrons, the number of Eurofighters has been cut and Britain’s order for the F-35 has went from 128 to just between 40 and 45, leaving only one operational squadron with between 20-25 aircraft. Not only did the Brits drastically cut their order, they switched from the F-35B to the F-35C due to the delays in the F-35B. Instead of using ramps to get their aircraft airborne like they did with the Harrier on their current carriers they will switch to using catapults to launch and wires to trap the aircraft.
The F-35 program has gotten to the point where its so expensive you can’t cancel the whole thing. You can cut parts of it, like Secretary Gates has proposed to do to the F-35B. The program has basically been put on a two year probation, if it doesn’t meet requirements and stay fiscally on track you can most likely say bye bye to the F-35B. The Marines are in need of a replacement for their aging AV-8B’s, there is no denying that but in my opinion the right answer is scrap the STOVL version and the Marines buy the F-35C instead. The C version will be operational barring any major setbacks earlier than the F-35B would have been.
The Air Force is in quite a pickle as well, they have invested so much into the F-35 replacing all their older air frames that the air sovereignty over the U.S. might be in jeopardy. The amount of older F-15s that have been retired along with older block versions of the F-16 are leaving a huge gap in fighter protection, especially with the Air Guard who is in charge of Operation Noble Eagle, the protection of U.S. Airspace. The Raptor production ended at 187 aircraft, the F-35 isn’t ready yet, and won’t be for sometime and Secretary Gates decided to retire hundreds of F-16s and F-15s, many of which are no longer airworthy with no replacement in sight. This is a serious problem, and yet the Air Force and Department of Defense just seem to want to brush it off. They are not interested in purchasing Block 60 F-16s or new upgraded Eagles to replace what has been lost, instead the response has been lets wait for the F-35. Even when the F-35 gets here there will not be a 1:1 replacement ration, once again still leaving the Air Guard with less and less aircraft each year.
I by no means am blaming the collapse of the world economy or some of the dumb decision making in Washington on Lockheed Martin and the F-35. I think this aircraft could be a force for the U.S. And am eagerly awaiting getting to see one of these in flight some day but I think had Washington been strict about the requirements from day one and the cost of the project, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are now. A program that was supposed to cost $191 billion now will cost $300 billion plus… with less aircraft. But we all know what they say, hindsight is 20/20.
You know the part in ‘High Flight where it talks about putting out your hand to touch the face of God? Well, when we’re at speed and altitude in the SR, we have to slow down and descend in order to do that.
— USAF Lt. Col. Gil Bertelson, SR-71 pilot, in ‘SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends,’ 2002.
