U.S. Marines Send F-35 Stealth Fighter Squadron to Japan
Posted: January 11, 2017 | Author: Pundit Planet | Filed under: Asia, China, Global, Japan, Mediasphere, Space & Aviation, War Room | Tags: -elect, Barack Obama, Boeing, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Chief executive officer, Donald Trump, Lockheed Martin, Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, United States, United States Air Force |Leave a commentIt marks the first time for that stealth aircraft to be stationed overseas.
The US Marine Corps said it has sent a squadron of F-35B fighter jets to Japan, marking the first operational overseas deployment for the controversial aircraft that is under scrutiny from president-elect Donald Trump.
The deployment of the 10 planes to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Honshu Island marks a major milestone for the F-35, which has been bedeviled by technical glitches and soaring cost overruns.
With a current development and acquisition price tag already at $379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 is the most expensive plane in history, and costs are set to go higher still.
The Marines’s version of the plane, known as the F-35B, is capable of conducting short takeoffs and vertical landings.
Trump last month sent shockwaves through the aerospace industry when he tweeted that he wanted rival Boeing to price out a possible alternative.
“Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!” Trump tweeted December 22.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet does not have stealth capabilities and has been in use since the late 1990s.
Once servicing, maintenance and other costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft’s lifespan through 2070, overall program costs have been projected to rise to as much as $1.5 trillion.
Proponents of the F-35 tout its speed, close air-support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information.
“The unique combination of stealth, cutting-edge radar and sensor technology, and electronic warfare systems bring all of the access and lethality capabilities of a fifth-generation fighter, a modern bomber, and an adverse-weather, all-threat environment air-support platform,” the Marines said in a statement…(read more)
Source: South China Morning Post
Related articles
- The F-18 vs. the F-35: ¿Quien Es Mas Macho? (motherjones.com)
- In Atlanta, Bernie Sanders will be Inauguration Week’s opening act (politics.blog.ajc.com)
- U.S. defence stocks continue to sink further after Trump’s F-35 threat (theglobeandmail.com)
- Trump: I’ve Asked Boeing to Price-Out ‘Comparable’ F-18 Super Hornet to Lockheed’s F-35 (abcnewsradioonline.com)
- Trump may not like the $400 billion-dollar F-35 program, but good luck shutting it down (businessinsider.com)
- Key Challenges Facing Trump’s Pentagon Include Cyber, Acquisitions Management (freebeacon.com)
- Former US Navy commander: Here’s what the US should have built instead of the F-35 (businessinsider.com)
- Trump: US must ‘greatly strengthen’ nuclear capability (wreg.com)