US Marines declare F-35 squadron ready for combat, $1 trillion later

[n2doc]

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General Joseph Dunford has declared an initial squadron of 10 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35B fighter jets ready for combat, marking a key milestone for the Pentagon's biggest weapons program, the Pentagon said Friday.

The decision makes the Marines the first U.S. military service to declare an "initial operational capability" for the stealth supersonic F-35 fighter under the arms program that first kicked off in 2001. Although the official price tag for the program is $391 billion, recent reports have estimated that the total cost to the Pentagon will be closer to $1.4 trillion, making it the most expensive weapons program in American history.

"It is an incredibly advanced aircraft, arguably the most advanced in the world," Peter W. Singer, a strategist at the New America Foundation and co-author of the recent book Ghost Fleet, told Al Jazeera over email. "It is also incredibly expensive, arguably the most expensive weapons program in all of human history."

Early technical challenges delayed the Marines' move by three years from its original target. But U.S. officials say the F-35 program has been meeting its schedule and lowering costs for the past five years.

more
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/31/us-marines-declare-f-35-squadron-ready-for-combat-400-billion-later.html

Imagine the good those dollars could have done….

[pscot]

1. If they're lucky it will never be tested

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. To do what? Protect us from the ISIS Air Force?

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. It has been unflyable for so many years, they kept tinkering with it

I think they should sell it
To Iran
or ISIS

At lease we could get some money back.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. This is why we can't have nice things. Like universal health care.

[Takket]

5. great!

now they can begin the process of slowly disintegrating under the desert sun along with all the other high tech military vehicles we build and don't need.