The Struggle to Make the F-35 The United States spends more money on their military than any other country in the world. This is a good thing because it makes others less likely to attack. This can also be a bad thing if the U.S. spends a lot of money on a single project, with little or no results. This so far has been the case with the development of the F-35 Lightning II Fighter Jet. One article said “The F-35 looks a lot like the second coming of the B-2 bomber; a high-tech military megaproject on which billions are gambled, and that ends up being a half obsolete curio by the time all the kinks are worked out.”(Costly. Obsolete). For many reasons, large amounts of money has been wasted creating this fighter jet. Although developing the F-35 …show more content…
One Time article describes the F-35 as “a poster child for Pentagon profligacy in a new era of tightening budgets. Instead of the stars and stripes of the U.S. Air Force emblazoned on its fuselage, it might as well have a bull's-eye. Its pilots' helmets are plagued with problems, it hasn't yet dropped or fired weapons, and the software it requires to go to war remains on the drawing board.”(The Most Expensive Weapon Ever Built). The development issues are constantly prolonging the development program, costing the government more and more money. This is the reason that the public is so against the F-35. There are even more issues with the F-35. Some of them are, “The tails of all F-35 variants are getting too hot during high-speed flight, scorching the coatings that help them defeat radar; when the F-35B hovers, exhaust is routed through ports in its wings to maintain stability, but the doors covering these nozzles can snap off during flight; and testers found excess oxygen in the fuel tanks, increasing risk of explosion if struck by lightning.”(Fixing The F-35B). The result of all these issues is more money being spent, and the public becoming more opposed to the plane, since higher government expenses mean higher taxes. Bugs that needed to be worked out later were probably expected, but the F-35 has had way too many problems for them all to be considered …show more content…
"More Bad News for the F-35, the Plane That Ate the Pentagon." Newsweek. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 19 May 2016 Costly. Obsolete. It’s Getting Hard To Justify Buying This Jet.” Maclean’s 125.15(2012): 4. Middle Search Plus. Web. 18 May 2016 Farley, Robert. "Will the F-35 Dominate the Skies?" The National Interest. N.p., 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 May 2016 Pappalardo, Joe. “Fixing The F-35B.” Popular Mechanics 190.4(2013): 14. Middle Search Plus. Web. 18 May 2016 Pappalardo, Joe. “The Inevitable F-35.” Popular Mechanics 191.9 (2014): 4. Middle Search Plus. Web. 18 May 2016 Sullivan Michael J, “F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.” GAO Reports(2016): 1. Middle Search Plus. Web. 10 May 2016 Thompson, Mark. “The Most Expensive Weapon Ever Built.” Time 181.7(2014): 16. Middle Search Plus. Web. 12 May
By the end of World War I the world was beginning to realize the ability air combat presented. When World War II started planes became much more effective. Though still fabric covered, the aircraft were faster and more agile than the variants used in the Great War. In 1938, the first year of the Second World War, Curtiss unveiled their P-40 Warhawk. This aircraft was one of the best of its time and laid the foundation for modern aircraft engineering. But by 1940 the German Luftwaffe had begun to develop faster, long-ranged fighter-bombers. All current Allied aircraft could not keep up with the long range of the B-17 bombers who needed escort. In 1940, North American Aviation received an order from Britain requesting another shipment of
Okerlund, T. (n.d.). Resume of the 123d Aviation Battalion. History of B Company 123d Avn
The P-51 Mustang is regarded by many sources as the greatest fighter plane ever created. With the technological advancements this plane achieved, to it’s service record, to it’s importance in winning World War Two, the Mustang is truly one of the greats. The Mustang played a key role in long range bomber support and saved countless bomber crew’s lives, and pilots loved to fly it. The P-51 had the most aerial victories of any American fighter in World War Two and it was flown by some of America’s top aces. The P-51 was a beast of a fighter plane
Grundberg, Andy. "A Dangerous Weapon." The American Scholar:. American Scholar, 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 8 May 2014. .
hit the pentagon, which is now thought to be a missile because there was no evidence of a plane
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
Heppenheimer, T. (2001). A Brief History Of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
China is the most populous state in the world, with over 1.3 trillion inhabitants (Central Intelligence Agency 2010). Because of its large population base, China also has the largest military and a booming economy that is third only America and Japan in terms of GDP; however, economic trends show that Japan’s economy is stagnating, while the American Chinese economies continue to spike upward (Google, Inc. 2010). Despite its growing economy and large military force, China lags behind America in technology and naval power. Chinese Admiral Wu Shengli said, “The Navy will move faster in researching and building new-generation weapons to boost the ability to fight in regional sea wars under the circumstance of information technology” (Xuequan 2009). This quote shows that China wants to remain a regional sea power, and not develop a blue-water navy that can compete with the American navy. Furthermore, a Popular Mechanics article showed the world that China was stealing American military “leap ahead” technology, or technology that is decades ahead of Chinese technology (Cooper 2009).
The new conflict in Korea meant the planes were pulled out of storage and shipped to Asia on an aircraft carrier. USAF Pilots that had flown their last flight in the Mustang less than a year earlier were back in the cockpit. Other Mustangs went from storage into the hands of the ROKAF, and found themselves being flown in battle about a week after arriving. Originally a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) aircraft, the P-51 Mustang became the F-51 Mustang when the USAF changed the naming convention from pursuit (P) to fighter (F) on June 11th, 1948 (Robertson, Brown, & Heyn, 1961). The F-51 was a more robust aircraft than the new jets, and was able to be based in the austere conditions of Korea. The Air Force’s first jet, the F-80 Shooting Star was initially brought into the Korean Theater, but it didn’t take long to have some of its duties replaced by the trustworthy Mustang. The F-51 could not only takeoff from airfields unsuitable for the Shooting Star, but had a longer range that provided more station time at the fight. Long range escort missions are where the Mustang shined in the previous war. American pilots felt right at home in the Mustang, and were able to defeat all of the initial NKAF piston engine prop fighters. Once the Chinese and Soviet Union started supplying North Korea with The MiG-15, the venerable Mustang
These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. “They had limitations in practice, among them slow re...
From transport planes to bombers and fighters, every plane has a purpose and is designed to use the technology. This technological advantage every other country is what makes our Air Force the best. This advanced technology includes stealth bombers and Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) fighter aircraft like the Harrier are prime examples of the advanced technologies that are incredibly rare in other countries. These technologies allow the Air Force to conduct operations with accuracy and efficiency in places unsuitable for any other military
"The Basics Of Aircraft Maintenance."The Basics Of Aircraft Maintenance. SBI, n.d. Web. 3 Jan. 2014. .
McClatchy-Turbine Business News. 7 Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/288181239?accountid=27203 In 2009 February, an aircraft crashed in Buffalo, NY resulting from pilot’s failure of flaps setting which led the aircraft to stall. Another accident was involved with air traffic control who was distracted by a phone call. The last accident was caused by pilot’s violation of company rule.
...This Commentary Are Solely Those of Bastian Schaefer. "How Cool Is the Airplane of the Future?" CNN. Cable News Network, 24 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .
Bosnor, Kevin. "How Flying Cars Will Work." Howstuffworks. How Stuff Works Inc., 1998. Web. 24 Jan.