Turning Point: The F-35 May Not Deliver | RealClearDefense

Ouch. Comparing the program to the F-111. The demand for concurrency and not necessarily which frame was the most efficient at the job it was supposed to do. I especially like the quote about how the F-35 should've been skipped & further production on the F-22 should've moved forward - that bird is the best thing in the air today. Sadly, the F-35 program has come too far to drop it now. I don't know if that bird is long-lived, though. By the time they get it to actually be functioning, we'll be physically developing Gen 6 (instead of just on the drawing board) - yes, that was a bit of levity thrown in there.

If John Boyd were alive today he'd be shoving a cigar down someone's throat for pushing the F-35 program for concurrency instead of ability. And he would definitely agree w/ the quote: "Major bureaucratic reform must be undertaken at the Pentagon to remove entire levels of bureaucracy, which have hampered our nation’s warfighters. Weapon development should be placed under the aegis of the services; proven best practices could then be shared across the commands. Responsibilities and authorities would thus devolve to the services. Such steps constitute a foundation to obtaining congressional support to streamline and better systematize the authorizations and appropriations process."