Random PICTURE of the day thread *KEEP IT WORK SAFE*

[racrguy]

The F35 is a fucking gigantic piece of shit. It has now cost 1.5 trillion dollars, which places it as the most expensive project in human history by far.... and it gets its ass handed to it by other fifth gens.

But it takes off straight up, like a helicopter!

[Darren M]

But it takes off straight up, like a helicopter!

It does?? That's what STOVL stands for?

[racrguy]

It does?? That's what STOVL stands for?

For the most part. It's new technology, really groundbreaking stuff!

[HarrisonTX]

F35 C Variant BEFORE final paint..

Yea, thats it. Weird to see it to be honest.
They have an f16 buzzing around them when they're green, I guess the 16 pilot is just making sure shit isnt falling off? Last week I saw an f16 coming in like he was about to land, I'm sure just to observer the take off of this f35. When the f16 was about 100' back the f35 was sitting still on the tarmac and NAILS IT. Dude just about jumps off the ground and goes nose up for several hundred feet. It looked like the f16 tried to stick with him and absolutely got left in the fucking dust.

[CJ]

Last time I checked the F35 still has only 30-40% of it's code written.

[Strychnine]

[LaserSVT]

Last time I checked the F35 still has only 30-40% of it's code written.

Dunno how much code is here but they seem to work.

[CJ]

Dunno how much code is here but they seem to work.

90% of the code is weapon systems and advanced avionics. They always start with basic avionics so they can get the project flying for flight tests and other things.

[talisman]

hahahahaha! @ the voice activated. I need some of those.

[CJ]

http://defensetech.org/2013/04/24/concerns-linger-over-f-35-software-delays/

Concerns Linger Over F-35 Software Delays
by BRENDAN MCGARRY on APRIL 24, 2013


Top U.S. Defense Department officials say they’re concerned the slow pace of software development may delay the delivery of the most lethal version of the F-35 fighter jet beyond 2017.
The program manager, Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, told lawmakers today the issue was his top priority.
“My biggest concern in development is software,” Bogdan said in remarks prepared for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “I see more risk to the delivery of Block 3F, our full warfighting capability, by 2017.”
That model of the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made aircraft is designed to be equipped with a suite of internal and external weapons, including the GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, laser-guided Paveway II bomb, Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile and infrared Sidewinder missile.
The program office will have a better estimate of the planned delivery date this summer after reviewing at least six months of flight testing data, Bogdan said.
The Joint Strike Fighter is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons acquisition program, estimated to cost almost $400 billion for a total of 2,457 aircraft, according to a 2011 defense acquisition report. It’s designed to replace such aircraft as the F-16, A-10, F/A-18 and AV-8B.
The department next year plans to spend $8.4 billion to buy 29 F-35 Lightning IIs, including 19 for the Air Force, six for the Marine Corps and four for the Navy, according to its budget request released earlier this month.
The concerns over software remain despite making a “major shift” in oversight the past year, Bogdan said. That change has resulted in faster software development and integration, reduced coding errors and better collaboration between the program office and Lockheed, he said.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based company and its subcontractors “still need to improve both the speed and quality of software development to be able to catch up from previous software delays,” Bogdan said.
The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer, Frank Kendall, echoed those comments during a separate briefing with reporters to announce an updated effort to improve how the department buys goods and services. “We still got a fair amount of software to write,” he said. “There are some risks there.”
The military is about 40 percent through the F-35 test program, Kendall said.
In addition to software, “there are still a few other issues we haven’t quite put to bed yet, but I’m feeling cautiously optimistic,” he said without elaborating. “I won’t say there won’t be any additional schedule slips.”
The department is working to reduce program expenses by negotiating better terms on production contracts, Kendall said. “I want to keep the pressure on to drive it down as much as we can,” he said.
Kendall described sustaining the aircraft as “our biggest opportunity” to find long-term savings. The cost of keeping the F-35 in service for 50 years is estimated at more than $1 trillion and the Pentagon plans to hold competitions for the work.
“We can achieve the greatest results there,” he said.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2013/09/joint-strike-fighter-lockheed-martin

“The jet was supposed to be fully functional by now and that’s why they put people down in Eglin in 2010–2011—they were expecting a fully functional jet in 2012,” he said. “But the only military mission these planes can execute is a kamikaze one. They can’t drop a single live bomb on a target, can’t do any fighter engagements. There are limitations on Instrument Flight Rules—what’s required to take an airplane into bad weather and to fly at night. Every pilot out there in civil aviation, his pilot’s license says he can take off and land in perfect weather. Then they have to graduate to instrument conditions. What the program is saying is that the J.S.F., your latest and greatest fighter, is restricted from flying in instrument meteorological conditions—something a $60,000 Cessna can do.”

...and they still don't even have basic avionics done, lol.

[racrguy]

http://defensetech.org/2013/04/24/co...ftware-delays/

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2013/09/joint-strike-fighter-lockheed-martin

...and they still don't even have basic avionics done, lol.

What the fuck are they doing with our money!?

[CJ]

What the fuck are they doing with our money!?

Food stamps.

[racrguy]

Food stamps.

Yeah, because THAT'S the biggest way to trim a budget. Can we take an axe to the whole fucking thing?

[Frank]

Last time I checked the F35 still has only 30-40% of it's code written.

Sheesh! I worked out at LM in 1998 when they had a prototype and were trying to sell it. I think it was 10 years already in development at that point. Are any of them actually in service?

[Pokulski-Blatz]

For the most part. It's new technology, really groundbreaking stuff!

Sure is!



Really glad they got the kinks ironed out on that revolutionary V-22!