Monday, September 9, 2013

Claim: F-35 delays supercarrier program... or something

Name it these days, and the critics are likely to try to blame it on the F-35.  Latest example:
Production delays on Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 fighter aircraft have contributed to major cost increases and schedule delays for the $43 billion Navy program to build three aircraft carriers, and could eventually lead to pricey retrofits to the initial ship after it's delivered.
And we get paragraph after paragraph of how it's all the F-35 programs fault. Well, until you get to the next to the last paragraph on page 2:
Delays from F-35 production were not the only issue with the supercarrier program noted by GAO. According to the report, in an effort to meet required installation dates, the Navy has produced some shipbboard systems prior to demonstrating their maturity, "a strategy that GAO’s previous work has shown introduces risk of late and costly design changes and rework," the report states. It went on to note that progress constructing the first ship has also been plagued by "inefficient out-of-sequence work driven largely by material shortfalls, engineering challenges and delays developing and installing critical technology systems." 
Oh, so maybe the headline was a bit misleading?  Perhaps, the F-35 won't be the issue? Perhaps the supercarrier program itself will be the issue?  Yeah, but what kind of headline does that make?

Graff

4 comments:

  1. well, we gotta blame SOMETHING on our inability to get systems ready for the Ford class.... oh look, the F-35 program.....

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    Replies
    1. Or you can go the route of a certain other blogger, and blame the F-35 for whatever particular want your service of choice isn't procuring.....

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    2. Ah yes, the other blogger

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