(Franco Iacch)
11/03/16

http://www.difesaonline.it/mondo-militare/f-35-ufficiale-richiesti-altri-500-milioni-di-dollari-completare-lo-sviluppo

The Pentagon has requested additional funds amounting to 500 million dollars to complete the development phase of the most expensive US weapons system in history, the F-35 of Lockheed Martin.

The Joint Program Office, during a closed-door meeting took place last month with the Defense Acquisition Board, officially requested the sum to complete the development. According to the Department of Defense, the request will be made in the financial instrument 2018 may be the first document on the desk of the next Secretary of Defense.

The United States will buy a fleet of F-35 in 2443 for a program whose current total costs amounted to 379 billion dollars (there were 391 in 2014).

Last October 14, in a memo signed by eight pages of Michael Gilmore, director of the Department of Defense for operational tests are "strongly advised to restructure the program and the resources required to reach full capacity."

The $ 500 million more are not considered an excessive demand, considering the size of the program. The entire phase of F-35's development has reached 55 billion dollars would be finished by the end of fiscal 2012.

According to Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, the development phase should be completed in the autumn of 2017. Timing is not shared by Gilmore fixing November of 2018 a possible conclusion of the development dell'F- 35 "unless you ignore the planned evaluations."

According to Gilmore "Further tests are needed to validate the latest version of the software. Found insufficient progress in mission systems, shortcomings on the gun design and its implementation. " Gilmore finally finds too few planes available for flights and up to 1,179 "significant open" on the software deficiencies.

In one of the nine last August report, a week after the initial operational certification of the Air Force, Gilmore riscontrava only "limited progress" in the F-35 program.

Last September, the Air Force Secretary Deborah James announced to Congress that within the first months of 2018, the F-35 would reach full combat capability.

A few hours later, in an email Gilmore writes, "that this estimate is unlikely because the program is recklessly forced to operate under its currently planned budget." According Gilmor, the F-35 program needs additional funds "to correct a considerable number of critical deficiencies existing and new gaps that inevitably will be discovered."

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Does this mean that all delivered jets so far have a technical deficiency?

IZAKOVIC