Found this one on BNN this morning.................... these guys are going to force this down everyones throats before it's ready............ and hope the software makes it the weapon promised 15 years ago.............................
The Air Force is close to declaring the controversial F-35 ready for combat
Washington Post 07/28/2016
Author: Christian Davenport
The Air Force is close to certifying that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is ready for combat, a declaration that would become one of the most significant milestones in the long and tortured history of the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program ever.
After years of delays, cost overruns and controversy, top Pentagon officials could make the decision as early as next week, some 15 years after the program began.
In an interview, Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, the head of the Air Force's Air Combat Command, said the jet fighter would likely be declared combat ready "at the leading edge" of a timeframe that begins Aug. 1. Once that happens, he said "they are ready to go." Still, he said the program remains in its developmental stages, and that officials have continued to find and fix problems. The plane still still due for upgrades in its software in addition to other changes.
"I'm very, very confident it is going to continue to exceed our expectations," he said. Declaring the plane's "initial combat capability is just the beginning. We still have work to do on the airplane, and it will continue to get better."
For years, the $400 billion program suffered a series of problems, and the F-35 was derided as "the plane that ate the Pentagon." In 2014, the engine of one of the jets caught fire as it was preparing to take off, forcing the Pentagon to temporarily ground the entire fleet.
But in more recent years the program has gotten back on track, Pentagon officials said. Production has begun to climb. Prices have come down. And it has hit a series of milestones, including its international debut at an airshow this summer in the United Kingdom.
Approximately 180 of the aircraft have been delivered by Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor. And the Pentagon plans to buy a total of 2,443
