Re: A Foggia le ali dell'F-35

[rossana at comodinoposta.org]

Comunque per quanto riguarda l'F-35 mai fidarsi di quanto scrivono i 
media italiani perchè danno sempre una versione ottimista dello stato 
dell'arte. In realtà i problemi tecnici, (peso, calibrazioni, ecc.) e 
sul Financial Times si scrive chiaramente che non saranno pronti per il 
2014 almeno quelli imbarcati, si sussegono.
Non solo, ma ogni anno il costo aumenta del 4% all'anno.

Navy’s new carriers to deploy old aircraft

The most powerful ships ever to sail in the Royal Navy will be forced to 
fly ageing Harrier jets because the replacement F35 Joint Strike 
Fighters (JSFs) will not be ready in time.

The first of two new aircraft carriers is due to enter service in 2014 
and the government had planned to operate Britain’s next generation 
combat plane, the JSF, from the ships. However, it emerged on Tuesday 
that the Navy will instead initially have to operate the latest version 
of the Harrier jump jet, an aircraft first designed several decades ago.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MoD offered £100m saving on carriers - Jan-21
Shipbuilding unions fear delays may hit jobs - Jan-18
MoD may delay carrier contract - Jan-10
MoD gives nod for aircraft carriers - Jul-25
Anglo-French aircraft carriers proposed - Apr-22
Minister reaffirms plan for aircraft carriers - Sep-01

Giving evidence to the Commons’ defence select committee, David Gould, 
the MoD chief operating officer for equipment and support, said: “We 
actually do plan to use the [Harrier] GR9 on the first of the carriers. 
The idea that we will have a carrier’s worth of fully ... equipped JSFs 
in 2014 is not going to happen.”

The $276bn (£140bn) JSF programme is the most expensive armaments 
programme ever and Britain is the biggest partner to the US.

The UK had originally intended to acquire 150 JSFs but at Tuesday’s 
hearing General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, the chief of defence material, 
admitted that the eventual number would depend on the final price – 
which has yet to be decided.

Francis Tusa, editor of Defence Analysis, said: “They are admitting 
there is no cost control from this end of the pond. There is a slight 
degree of unreality here. JSF costs are going up something like 4 per 
cent a year. By the time we start laying out money for production, the 
aircraft will be 30 per cent more expensive than we first budgeted.”

General O’Donoghue also acknowledged that there were likely to be 
cutbacks or delays to major equipment procurement programmes. “I suspect 
we will have to [delay or cut some],” he said.

Asked when spending was last so tight, he said: “In the late 1970s, we 
had some challenging times then.”

Separately, Mr Gould identified the Nimrod coastal surveillance aircraft 
programme as the one where the department is seeing the greatest “cost 
growth”.

The reasons for the continuing cost overruns were due to a problem with 
pitch on the aircraft, only discovered during the flight trials.

It emerged, however, that a similar problem was first identified on an 
earlier version of aircraft.

Responding to a question on why the government had not yet signed a 
manufacturing contract with the industry alliance building the two 
aircraft carriers, Mr Gould said he would be disappointed if a contract 
had not been signed before the end of March. “The fact that we are going 
through a review of the [defence procurement] programme of the nature we 
talked about early on ... it is as serious as you have known it in 
recent years, yes ... that is not an atmosphere when it is easy to take 
decisions on big commitments,” he said.