The F-35 Discussion Topic (No Holds Barred II)

lastdingo said:
No, you just ignored what's been written, or else you'd understand that F-15s in small air forces or not was irrelevant to the issue.
Well generally it wasn't true for 4th generation fighters and going back further I wouldn't define the Mirage III as top-quality either. It was adequate and affordable for their needs at the time but it wasn't the most capable aircraft available.
 
lastdingo said:
kaiserd said:
Going back to your weird arbitrary "efficiency" measure

It's not mine, not "weird", not "arbitrary", and not "efficiency"; but "fleet efficiency".
Obviously, you don't know the term and don't understand it despite it being well described by the combination of the words "fleet" and "efficiency". This means you don't have the intellectual tools to think properly about air force procurement topics. Look up what "fleet efficiency" means, then maybe you will be able to think properly about procurement decisions in a resources-constrained (real) world.

I won't reply to the rest of your stuff because frankly, you're not going to get anything no matter what I write because you switched long ago into a primitive hostility mode and others could ask me by PM if they are really interested in clarification.


Colonial-Marine said:
What? I must have missed all of the F-15s small European air forces were operating.

No, you just ignored what's been written, or else you'd understand that F-15s in small air forces or not was irrelevant to the issue.

Well last dingo it appears that one of the few aspects we agree on is that there isn't much point continuing this discussion.
I would suggest you don't so readily resort to accusations of stupidity and hostility at people just because they don't agree with you.
 
I did a search back to 14 days and nobody wrote "stupid" in here before you just did it.


Hostility is more than disagreement, true. Hostility is about the style of disagreement, it's about visibly not wanting to understand a text when reading, but instead wanting to find points to attack. Sadly, such behaviour is commonplace in many discussions, especially when people are emotionally invested.
People are emotionally invested in the F-35, in the air force as institution, in their nation etc., and it leads to intolerance instead of grasping content when someone dares to oppose or criticise any of these in any way.

This affects the seemingly never-ending NGFS, LCS and A-10/CAS debates and previously the F-22 debate as well.

A most thorough assessment would begin with the basics of looking at threats, then ambitions (defence or also great power games), then at modern air war, look at national and alliance resources, look at alternatives (including realistic cost expectations excluding sunk costs) including missile artillery as a partial substitute to the F-35 etc etc.
Instead, people are all-too often comparing a single plane with a single different plane, and even basic terms such as "fleet efficiency" appear alien in such a debate.
 
kaiserd said:
I would suggest you don't so readily resort to accusations of stupidity and hostility at people just because they don't agree with you.

I would suggest that is actually an indicator of something the opposite of stupidity. ;)
 
"Congresswoman, former pilot, concerned F-35 won't fill A-10's role"
By Phillip Swarts, Staff writer 1:49 p.m. EDT October 22, 2015

Source:
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/10/22/congresswoman-former-pilot-concerned-f-35-wont-fill--10s-role/74393602/

A former A-10 pilot-turned-Congresswoman said she still has doubts about the F-35’s abilities in close-air support.

During a Wednesday hearing on Capitol Hill to discuss the Lightning II, Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., said she’s concerned the plane might not live up to the capabilities of dedicated CAS platforms like the Warthog.

“I am concerned that this airplane is replacing all of our legacy fighters — the whole jack of all trades, master of none,” said McSally, a retired colonel who served 26 years in the Air Force and was the first female pilot to fly in combat.

The Congresswoman said that her concerns include the low number of bullets carried by the F-35 and a reported loiter time of less than an hour.

Plus, she said, Pentagon officials have indicated that the F-35 “would not be able to survive a direct hit like the A-10 can, and still allow the pilot to at least fly to friendly territory so that they’re not taken POW and lit on fire in a cage like we’ve seen happen to the Jordanian pilot” who was killed by the Islamic State group.

She noted that Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh had called the idea of a head-to-head test between the F-35 and A-10 “silly,” but said she believes it’s a good idea.

“I think it’s a very good use of taxpayer money,” she said. “The F-35 is going to replace the A-10. We need to identify whether we’re going to have a decrease in the unique capabilities in that mission set.”

However, McSally said she is still concerned about the way the test might be conducted.

“I’m skeptical about it, quite frankly, with all the things we’ve seen the Air Force try to do to go against the will of this Congress, and go backdoor retiring the A-10,” she said. “You can set up a test to get any result you want.”

Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan, program executive officer for the F-35 Joint Program Office, said the service needs to do “testing in a realistic operational environment with the CAS mission that the Air Force intends the F-35 to do — not the mission that the Air Force intends the F-35 to do looking like the A-10.”

He compared it to an Olympic decathlon runner and a 100-meter sprinter. If you line up both runners at the start of a 100-meter dash, you don’t really need to run the race.

“I know the outcome of that test,” Bogdan said.

“I don’t need to test the A-10 to figure out what the F-35 can do in a close-air support role,” he said. “What I would prefer to do is test the F-35 in its close-air support role as the Air Force sees the requirements for that mission, for the F-35.”

But McSally said she believes it’s unrealistic to think the Air Force won’t find itself in situations that demand the close-air support capabilities from planes like the A-10, situations “where guys are on the run, they’re out of ammo."

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, director of the Air Force’s F-35 Integration Office, said the service is formulating what the tests might look like, in both contested and permissive environments, including testing range, time to arrive on target and loiter time for the F-35.

It’s part of ensuring that “at the end of the day, we’re delivering a platform that’s effective and suitable for the environments it will be operating in,” he said.
 
Of course it's a trick question. If you're doing CAS in a contested environment you're already doing it wrong. Also, if you're up against Pantsyr doing CAS (rather than blowing through on the way to somewhere else) it doesn't make a lot of difference whether you're in an A-10, an F-35 or an LRS-B.
 
LowObservable said:
Of course it's a trick question. If you're doing CAS in a contested environment you're already doing it wrong.

You mean troops don't ever need help when there's enemy air overhead? On what planet? Oh, right, you're going to get air superiority with those fighters that grow on trees. Minor detail I realize. Please forgive me for overlooking it. Then the good Senator should have made sure to qualify her statement with "after everybody else has made it safe for the A-10s to fly. . .".

LowObservable said:
Also, if you're up against Pantsyr doing CAS (rather than blowing through on the way to somewhere else) it doesn't make a lot of difference whether you're in an A-10, an F-35 or an LRS-B.

LOL. Pretty sure it does. One is going to light up like the 4th of July on the other guy's radar while the other 2 do not.[/quote]
 
I dream when one day all our respectful disagreement can be expressed with something other than sarcasm and mockery.
 
AeroFranz said:
I dream when one day all our respectful disagreement can be expressed with something other than sarcasm and mockery.

I dream of a day when the News reports news, and reporters report fact not opinion. Now back to the show:
 

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How do you know it's news if it's not on the news? If a news story falls in the forest and hits a bear having a ****, but nobody hears it, is it a news story?

And invert the problem: If you have TIC and enemy air is overhead, you have pushed too far forward. Unless you have a completely invisible airplane you will be under threat and not able to do effective CAS. Unless you're expecting CAS to be shot down in droves (Eastern Front).

Neither did I mention radar. If you're low enough to lase targets and/or to have an acceptable weapon TOF, you're going to be detected.
 
sferrin said:
AeroFranz said:
I dream when one day all our respectful disagreement can be expressed with something other than sarcasm and mockery.

I dream of a day when the News reports news, and reporters report fact not opinion. Now back to the show:


BIG BURNER. Dang.
 
"AF leaders testify on F-35 progress"
By Senior Airman Hailey Haux, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs Command Information / Published October 28, 2015

Source:
http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/223/Article/626221/af-leaders-testify-on-f-35-progress.aspx

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Leaders in the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office and the Air Force F-35 Integration Office testified on the fifth-generation aircraft’s development before a House Armed Services subcommittee Oct. 21 on Capitol Hill.

Fielding a number of questions from Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee representatives, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 program executive officer, and Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, the F-35 Integration Office director, Headquarters Air Force, assured them the program is making progress.

“The F-35 program today is executing well across the entire spectrum of acquisition, to include development and design, flight test, production … and building a global sustainment enterprise,” Bogdan said. “The program is at a pivot point today, where we are moving from slow and steady progress to what I call a rapidly growing and accelerating program.”

Overall, the program has flown more than 42,000 hours, to include the international jets and the U.S. service-specific variations.

The F-35 is a complex program made more challenging by the fact that it’s still in development, even as we are flying it in the field. Recent tests on the safe-escape system revealed a problem that would result in lighter-weight pilots possibly suffering major neck injury upon ejection.

“The program is working with our industry partners on three specific improvements that will provide lightweight pilots that same level of protection and safety as all other F-35 pilots,” Bogdan said in his written testimony. “These three improvements are: one, a reduced weight helmet that weighs 6 ounces less than the current helmet … two, a pilot ‘weight switch’ on the ejection seat that reduces the opening shock of the parachute by slightly delaying the parachute’s opening for lightweight pilots; and three, a head support that will be sewn into the parachute risers that will reduce the rearward head movement of the pilot when the main chute of the ejection seat opens, reducing the pilot’s neck loads.”

Comparing the F-35 with the F-16 Fighting Falcon’s maneuverability was another concern; however, both generals were confident in the F-35 program and its capabilities.

“The F-35’s technology is designed to engage, shoot and kill its enemy from long distances, not necessarily in visual ‘dogfighting’ situations,” Harrigian said in his testimony. “There have been numerous occasions where a four-ship of F-35s has engaged a four-ship of F-16s in simulated combat scenarios, and the F-35s had a clear operational advantage because of the sensors, weapons and stealth technology. The F-35 has been optimized for the current trends of warfare, where the enemy is engaged and defeated from long distances, but it will still be able to maneuver aggressively when required to defeat and kill threats.”

Overall, the F-35 program is on track to be delivered on time and on cost, and Bogdan and Harrigian agree it’s a capability needed for the joint force to be successful.

“As with any big, complex program new discoveries, challenges and obstacles will occur; however, we believe the combined government/industry team has the ability to overcome current issues and future discoveries in order to successfully deliver the full F-35 capability to the warfighter,” Bogdan said. “The Joint Program Office will continue executing with integrity, discipline, transparency and accountability, holding ourselves accountable for the outcomes on this program.

“We recognize the responsibility the program has been given to provide the backbone of the U.S. and allied fighter capability with the F-35 for generations to come, and that your sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters may someday take this aircraft into harm’s way to defend our freedom and way of life. It is a responsibility we never forget."
 
"Top F-35 leader to help Lockheed absorb Sikorsky"
by Max B. Baker
Oct 29, 2015

Source:
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article41873685.htm

FORT WORTH--Lorraine Martin, who oversaw steady improvement in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program as executive vice president and general manager, is being promoted to help the aerospace giant with its acquisition of the Sikorsky helicopter business.

Martin, who has worked on the F-35 program for four years, will serve in a newly-created job as deputy executive vice president for Mission Systems and Training, the division that is set to absorb Sikorsky, which Lockheed agreed to buy in July for $9 billion.

Martin will be replaced in Fort Worth by Jeff Babione, who has been serving as Deputy General Manager on the F-35 program. He will lead the development, production and sustainment efforts across the fighter jet’s three variants.

Babione will oversee the anticipated ramping up of production at the Lockheed plant west of Fort Worth as well as achieving initial operational capability, or “combat ready” status, for the jet by the United States Air Force in 2016 and the Navy in 2018.

"For the past three years Jeff Babione has served as Lorraine’s deputy. He has the skills and leadership necessary to continue the advancements we’re making in the F-35 program". Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer

“He brings a deep understanding of the F-35 program, strong customer relationships and a collaborative leadership style that will ensure we continue the positive momentum of the program,” said Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

Martin stepped into a leadership role with the F-35, the nation’s most expensive weapons system, after it had been rocked by cost overruns and technical failures. At one time, the F-35 ran so far over budget and fell so far behind schedule that the Pentagon put the program on probation in 2010.

Eventually, two years were added to the program, along with $4.5 billion more for development. Since the probation was lifted in 2012, performance has improved and the F-35 program has won praise from its customers.

Earlier this month, Martin said the program has been able to “meet all of our milestones,” including the fighter being declared combat ready by the Marines, while also bringing down the costs.

Martin’s new job will include a significant increase in responsibility, the company said. Currently the Systems and Training division is a $7.2 billion business with more than 18,000 employees. But it will double in revenue and workforce once the Sikorsky acquisition is completed, Lockheed officials said.

“I congratulate Lorraine on her new position. Since 2013 we worked together on the F-35 program to deliver a world-class weapons system to the warfighter and improve government and contractor relations,” said Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, the F-35 program executive officer.

Read more at the source.
 
United Kingdom F-35B Testing

"The system is clearly impressing Beck, who is a former Tornado pilot. “I simply cannot explain to you how good this sensor suite is,” he said. “It is mind-blowing. We don't actually even need to carry a weapon, albeit we can. I can track targets, identify them all, after having turned [nose] cold [away from the targets], then datalink that information to my Typhoons. The Typhoon pilots can then carry their ordnance to bear against the targets.

“So, I’ve identified everything at distances that no one thought previously possible,” Beck continued. “I’ve shared that data with other assets. I can lead them all into the fight. We are very focused on getting value for money and we can do a lot more by blending our assets.

“This jet isn’t just about the weapons — it’s a game-changing capability. The Tornado GR.4 can't just stroll into a double digit SAM MEZ [Missile Engagement Zone]. In the F-35 I can generate a wormhole in the airspace and lead everyone through it. There isn’t another platform around that can do that. This isn’t all about height and supercruise speed — it’s the ability to not be seen,” added Beck.

Waterfall added: “The F-35 is providing the pilot with all the needed information; it is largely irrelevant where that information has come from because the aircraft is manipulating all of the sensors available and taking the best of those sensors, correlating the information and presenting it to the pilot.”

Beck noted: “We can never be explicit about the true capabilities of this jet, we've got to hold our cards close because otherwise people will try to reverse engineer it. This aircraft is so sophisticated that no pilot who has actually flown it says a bad thing about it. That tells you a lot about what this can do.”"

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/article.html?item_id=182

There's a guy over on F-16.net, not sure it's the same person, but they are also a former Tornado pilot transitioning to the F-35B. Interesting stuff.
 
"Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $120,555,991 modification to the previously awarded low-rate initial production Lot IX F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter advance acquisition contract (N00019-14-C-0002) to procure the non-recurring engineering effort necessary to develop build-to-print packages by variant (F-35A, F-35B, F-35C), to provide Group A and Group A enabler provisions to support future Band 2/5 capabilities of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in June 2018. Fiscal 2015 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force); fiscal 2016 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force and Marine Corps); and non-U.S. Department of Defense participants funds in the amount of $36, 287,605 are being obligated on this award, $9,190,887 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity."

Empahsis mine.
Band 2/5: VHF/UHF
 
https://www.f35.com/news/detail/f-35a-completes-first-aerial-gun-test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-OyE45DEac
 
But, but. . .everybody knows they won't be able to shoot the gun until 2019. Clearly this more of Stanley Kubrick's work.
 
Arjen said:
Can you *aim* the gun?

Has being able to aim the gun in 2015 ever been a requirement? (That would be, "no".)

"The gun system will be further tested with a production F-35A next year for integration with the jet's full mission systems capabilities. The test team will demonstrate the gun's effectiveness in both air-to-air and air-to-ground employment when integrated with the 5th generation fighter's sensor fusion software, which will provide targeting information to the pilot through the helmet mounted display. At the end of the program's system development and demonstration phase in 2017, the F-35 will have an operational gun. "

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/168430/f_35a-completes-first-aerial-gun-test.html

2 years before 2019. (The year the usual crowd likes to trot out.)
 
Means "no". Check.
Can't remember mentioning 2019.
 
I'm not part of 'the usual crowd', then. What have they got to do with it?
sferrin said:
2 years before 2019. (The year the usual crowd likes to trot out.)
 
"F-35 Data Smuggler Sentenced to Jail"
by Lara Seligman 1:27 p.m. EST November 3, 2015

Source:
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/2015/11/03/f-35-data-smuggler-sentenced-jail/75097272/

WASHINGTON — A former Connecticut resident has been sentenced to 97 months in jail for attempting to send sensitive technical data on the F-35 engine to Iran.

Mozaffar Khazaee, 61, was sentenced Oct. 23 to 97 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release, according to a recent Pentagon Inspector General statement. Khazaee also was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.

Between 2009 and 2013, Khazaee tried to send secret U.S. defense technology to Iran, according to the release. Khazaee, a dual citizen of Iran and the United States, with a degree in mechanical engineering, was employed by three different defense contractors between 2001 and 2013.

Although the statement did not name his employers, engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has confirmed that Khazaee was an employee of theirs during this period. Pratt manufactures the engines for both the F-22 and F-35.

“Mozaffar Khazaee betrayed his defense contractor employers and the national security interests of the United States by stealing and attempting to send to Iran voluminous documents containing highly sensitive U.S. defense technology,” said Deirdre Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, according to the statement.

Beginning in 2009, Khazaee corresponded by email with an individual in Iran to whom he sent sensitive documents containing information about the Joint Strike Fighter program, according to the statement. Khazaee was apparently seeking a job back in Iran, frequently contacting state-controlled technical universities offering access to the data.

Federal agents began investigating Khazaee in 2013 when he attempted to send a large shipping container to Iran. When agents inspected the container, they found thousands of pages of documents, including diagrams, test results and blueprints of the F-35 and F-22 engines, according to the statement.

Khazaee was arrested Jan 9, 2014, at the Newark Liberty International Airport before boarding a flight to Iran, the report said. Agents found additional information related to U.S. military jet engines, as well as $59,945 in as-yet undeclared cash, in Khazaee’s checked and carry-on luggage.

In addition to the F-35 and F-22 materials, Khazaee also stole documents from numerous other U.S. military engine programs, including the V-22 Osprey, the C-130J Hercules and the Global Hawk engines, according to the statement.

Khazaee pleaded guilty on Feb. 25, 2015.
 
How the hell does somebody like this get a job in this kind of sensitive area? :eek:
 
sferrin said:
How the hell does somebody like this get a job in this kind of sensitive area? :eek:

Completely beyond my comprehension.

Possibly the same way someone like Edward Snowden got unfettered access to heaps of NSA data without anyone apparently asking what he was up to. Also, these sorts of events make the Chinese OPM hack (bad as it was) seem a bit redundant. I mean, why do it the hard way - just send someone to ask for what you want. Email and you shall receive. It would be comical if it weren't so serious. Single points of failure everywhere.

I hope the LRS-B program has been properly air gapped and compartmentalized from the start. At least there's no lack of case studies of what not to do. The F-35 project seems to be a prime example. Perhaps someone has kept track of just how many (un-)successful espionage cases have come to light. The sum total might be nightmarishly impressive on a single spreadsheet.
 
AF-02 inflight firing gun. -SP
 

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NilsD said:
sferrin said:
How the hell does somebody like this get a job in this kind of sensitive area? :eek:
Like Fuchs or Walker?
I don't recall those gentlemen being duel citizens with one citizenship being with a country we are practically at war with since 1979 (They with us anyway)? If they were please provide details.
 
bobbymike said:
NilsD said:
sferrin said:
How the hell does somebody like this get a job in this kind of sensitive area? :eek:
Like Fuchs or Walker?
I don't recall those gentlemen being duel citizens with one citizenship being with a country we are practically at war with since 1979 (They with us anyway)? If they were please provide details.

This. Hell, I recently had to provide proof of citizenship (TWO forms, including one with a photo) to prove I had a right to work, just because our company was bought out by another. Yet we employ a cleaning service that has free run of the place with nary an English speaker among them.

In Security Breach, Russian Programmers Wrote Code for U.S. Military Communications Systems (excerpt)

"Greed drove the contractor to employ the Russian programmers, he said in his March 2011 complaint, which was sealed until late last week. He said they worked for one-third the rate that American programmers with the requisite security clearances could command. His accusations were denied by the firms that did the programming work."

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/168545/us-firms-fined-for-using-russians-to-write-code-for-dod-systems.html

Wait, so these RUSSIANS got security clearances? ???
 
I was wondering when the F-15 "Silent Eagle" news was going to be the basis for an F-35 hit piece. ::)


"Israel Prefers F-15 ‘Silent Eagles’ to More F-35s"
The upgraded F-15SE will have stealth features and internal weapons bays
by Dave Majumdar
Nov 5, 2015

Source:
http://warisboring.com/articles/israel-prefers-f-15-silent-eagles-to-more-f-35s/

Israel is asking the United States for a squadron of advanced F-15 Strike Eagles and V-22 Osprey tilt-rotors as part of a “compensation package” for lifting American sanctions on Iran. The package would be worth more than $3.1 billion according to reports.

Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon presented Tel Aviv’s “shopping list” to U.S. defense secretary Ashton Carter last week when he visited Washington D.C. if reports are accurate. The arms package would help maintain the Jewish state’s qualitative edge over its Arab neighbors.

According to Flight International’s Arie Egozi, the Israelis didn’t just ask for ordinary F-15s. Instead, the Middle Eastern nation is asking for Boeing’s privately funded F-15SE Silent Eagle derivative which includes a number of radar cross section — or RCS — reduction features and internal weapons bays housed inside the jet’s conformal fuel tanks.

In previous years, Boeing officials would claim that the F-15SE had a frontal RCS that is equivalent to an export configuration Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. However, other defense and industry sources dismissed such assertions.

Israel wants to incorporate its own systems into the F-15SE version that it would buy. Those would most likely include the aircraft’s electronic warfare systems, helmet mounted cueing systems and communications suite among other items. It would probably also incorporate a host of Israeli-made weapons such as the Python-5 missile.

However — if the United States holds to past practices — the aircraft will likely retain a U.S.-made radar — either the Raytheon APG-63 (v)3 or APG-82 (v)1 active electronically scanned array radars.

However, while Israel might want the F-15SE, that version of the Eagle is largely a paper plane. The new variant would have to be developed from the F-15SA, which was developed for Saudi Arabia. That version of the Eagle incorporated a host of advances including a new digital fly-by-wire control system and a completely new glass cockpit with large format displays, both of which will be crucial to the Israeli project.

Thus, ironically, Saudi Arabia will be partly subsidizing the Israeli purchase. Unless Israel is paying to complete the rest of the developmental cost for the F-15SE, the American taxpayer will be on the hook for the remainder of the bill.

That’s not without precedent when it comes to Israel — the United States is subsidizing its purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter. Tel Aviv is paying for its first batch of 19 F-35s entirely out of the military aid that the United States provides it with. The country has thus far ordered 33 F-35s while securing a special deal to integrate domestic components onto those jets — a consideration that hasn’t been offered to any other nation participating in the program. It also has the option of buying 17 more jets under the contract.

Ultimately, Israel might buy as many as 75 F-35s.

But instead of buying additional F-35s, Israel is opting to boost its fleet of F-15s. Part of the reason for that might be because Tel Aviv has concerns about the F-35’s performance. In 2014, Israeli strategic affairs minister Yuval Steinitz cited misgivings about the F-35’s range, payload and maneuverability, which might not meet Tel Aviv’s needs.


But the fifth-generation jet’s astronomical price tag was also a deterrent because even with more than $3 billion in annual U.S. military aid, Israel is struggling to pay for the stealthy new jets.

Thus, the Israeli request for a new and developmental version of the F-15 might be an indication of just how deep those misgivings run. The Silent Eagle is not much cheaper than the F-35 since its costs roughly $100 million per plane or more. Further, there are developmental costs to consider, which add to the price tag. Therefore, Israel must be concerned about the stealthy fifth-generation jet’s performance.
 
I thought that guy was your favorite writer? He knows planes and stuff ya know.
 

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