Apr.14 (China Defense News cited from globaltimes.com) -- The F-35 Lightning-II fighter, planned to be the new workhorse of the US armed forces, has run into a financial crisis. The price of a single aircraft has jumped from $50 million to $90 million, and possibly even up to $120 million. The US is revising its previous plans to purchase 2,400 of the fighters. What does this tell us about the process of military research and development? Global Times (GT) reporter Peng Kuang interviewed Chen Hu(Chen), editor-in-chief of World Military Affairs magazine, on balancing financial costs and defence needs.
GT: What is the F-35 Lightning-II? It's a product of the Joint Strike fighter (JSF) program, but what does this mean?
Chen: In 1996, it was a big surprise when the US Air Force introduced the concept of a joint strike fighter.
The aim of the JSF program was to try to combine three types of fighter aircraft: conventional aircraft for the Air Force, the catapulted ship-borne aircraft for the Navy, and vertical take-off-and-landing aircraft for the Navy Marine Corps.
At the same time, the JSF program planned to produce different models from the same assembly line, and to standardize most parts across all models. The JSF was intended to be a stealth fighter with the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds. It was intended to be reliable enough for different missions in land, sea and air conflict.
April 13th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Nothing like an unbiased opinion from someone with a lot of experience in the field.
And I mean, this is nothing like it.
April 14th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I don't see your comment's point there is nothing to bias or unbias about; defense strategies need to take into account the costs. In US, we build multi billion dollars weapon platform while the real threat comes from some nutcase with a homemade bomb in his shoes .... waste of tax payers monies
August 8th, 2010 at 7:28 am
does someone have any idea about the chinese J-10b ? please tell me whether the issues with its engine, radar and EW cockpit have been solved.
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:48 am
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