I hope they were worth the incredible cost overruns:
"Defense Department grounds F-35 jets after one catches fire" New York Times July 05, 2014
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has grounded its fleet of F-35 jets after one of them caught fire as it was preparing to take off at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the Pentagon said.
The grounding is the latest in a long string of delays that have plagued the Air Force’s newest, and most advanced, fighter aircraft, and it comes just days before the plane was to make its international debut at an air show in Britain.
What kind of crap are we wasting taxpayer dollars on, and what $cums stole all the money?
The root cause of the problem at Eglin two weeks ago remains under investigation, the Pentagon’s press secretary, Rear Admiral John F. Kirby, said in a statement Thursday.
“Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data,” he said.
The Pentagon was seeking to determine if the Eglin fire was an isolated incident or whether it signaled a wider problem in the F-35 fleet, which is spread across the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
Kirby said preparations were continuing for the fighter jet to take part in international air shows. A final decision on the British exhibition will be made in a few days, he said.
I was thinking I would eat the tickets and not go, just in case the fleet crashes into the crowd or something. If that happens then the terrorist must have struck.
No one was injured in the fire at Eglin. The F-35, which is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, will bring stealth capability to the country’s fighter fleet; its backers say it will also bring a new versatility that will enable it to operate in virtually any battle situation.
The F-35 — as the only model available for export from America’s so-called fifth generation of such aircraft — has already racked up many orders on the global market. Australia, Britain, Israel, Italy, and Japan have all placed orders.
The planes have run into delays amid criticism of the costs, which can vary wildly.
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Not a good time to start more wars, is it?
"Vermont F-35 foes file suit to block deployment" by Beth Garbitelli | Associated Press July 04, 2014
MONTPELIER — Opponents of plans to base F-35 fighter planes at Burlington International Airport in Vermont have filed a lawsuit alleging that the US Air Force violated federal law.
I'm sure they can rise above the law like the rest of the federal government.
The lawsuit filed Monday asked a federal judge to overturn the Air Force decision to base the planes in South Burlington, arguing that they will be too loud and lower property values around the airport. They also raised the remote possibility that one of the planes could crash.
Or catch fire taking off!
Opponents worry that loud planes could cause health issues and would make more neighborhoods around the airport ‘‘incompatible with residential use.’’
Look, are you for the war effort or aren't you?
And if not, well, Green Mountain terrorists. Back to that again. Ethan Allen and that whole gang.
The lawsuit was announced Wednesday. Air Force and Vermont National Guard officials say they are unable to comment about the lawsuit.
James Dumont, a Bristol-based lawyer who represents the opponents, said the environmental impact statement written as part of the Air Force’s decision making process failed to offer comprehensive information about the effects of the planes.
Look, there is a war on, son!
The lawsuit charges that Air Force officials only examined physical damage that noise might cause to historic buildings, not usage changes or possible demolitions, and did not consult with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, as required by the National Historical Preservation Act.
Dumont said that the report should also have included an analysis of noise levels and other effects if there were no fighter planes at all. The Air Force is planning to get rid of Burlington’s F-16s regardless of whether new F-35s arrive.
What?
The complaint also states that the Air Force mitigation plan issued in April is being implemented without a full public comment period.
As such, the complaint states that Air Force officials ‘‘failed to conduct the requisite ‘hard look’ required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.’’
‘‘They haven’t raised anything new; everything has been already addressed,” said Frank Cioffi, president of Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, a nonprofit economic development group that supports the arrival of the new planes.
Cioffi said he is confident the lawsuit would not keep the planes from their scheduled arrival of 2020.
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Related: Licking the Pentagon
Also see: Breaking News: Fighter Jet Dogfight Above Vermont
Someone saw the bat plane!
UPDATE: US Navy fighter planes to fly with Air National Guard
