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Is the pot of gold under the F35?
You mean at the end of the rainbow there is a pot of gold, but if you dig underneath there is a real F35? Dont tell me that there are Spitfires and Fw190s underneath that lot? I am putting a spade in my car just in case.Yes but it's only the down payment.
I was going to award a "funny" as it looks more like a great big smile to me. This article gave me a big smile.
I do wonder if the current political situation could impact future F35 orders and in many ways more importantly any follow on to the F35. The development of the F35 was to some extent assisted by other countries such as the UK and already there are two European projects underway to look at a replacement. Personally I doubt that both of them will go ahead but am pretty confident that one of them will.
If the European countries favour the European project, then that means that the USA alone will fund the development of the USA follow on. The number of aircraft sold will be less due to fewer overseas sales. This in turn will drive up the unit cost to the USA for their purchases. It's worth noting that Saudi Arabia are already looking to get involved in one of the European projects, and they have a lot of cash to offer to help with the development and a near certainty of substantial orders.
An interesting test will be which direction will the UK government go. They are looking at purchasing some additional new aircraft and the choice seems to be between additional F35s, or additional Typhoons. The RAF would prefer more F35, whilst the unions would prefer more Typhoons. The F35 is the more capable aircraft certainly, however, the Typhoon is still better than anything it is likely to face. For a Labour Party government it was always going to be a close decision and the current uncertainty could easily tilt things one way or the other.
The days when the USA had a clear technical lead over the rest of the world are gone. Look at any military field, land, sea or air and there are alternatives, let alone the situation re the civilian aircraft available to potential customers.
I do hope that this isn't seen as a political posting. We are all where we are today and this a thought about where things may go looking forward.
Thank you for these.Trump’s Greenland push puts F-35 program at risk
U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about Greenland have created tension with Denmark, a key NATO ally, and raised questions about the future of one of America’s largest defense programs—the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Last week, Trump held a contentiousdefence-blog.com
Escalating Trade War Raises Questions Over Canada’s F-35 Future
Canada’s place in the F-35 program is under scrutiny once again, this time due to tit-for-tat tariffs with the United States. Once again, Canada’s place in the F-35 program is under scrutiny, this time due to a growing trade war with the United States.www.twz.com