F-35 ett fiasko? Läckta Rand rapporten och annat kul

The international air show debut of the Lockheed Martin F-35
Joint Strike Fighter is in doubt after the US Department of Defense grounded
the entire fleet on 3 July.

Based on the findings of an initial report into the 23 June fire that broke out
aboard an F-35A at Eglin AFB, the DoD has mandated further checks of the
JSF fleet’s Pratt & Whitney F135 powerplants.

It says: “Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and
return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis
of engineering data.

(CNN) -- The Pentagon has made the call to ground the F-35 fleet after a
recent runway fire at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Details on the fire, which occurred June 23, were not immediately available.

"The root cause of the incident remains under investigation. Additional
inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will
be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering
data," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said Thursday.

The initial UK order for 14 F-35Bs will, with support costs added, have a price tag of about £2.5bn.

Målet är att få ned inköpskostnaden för varje enskilt plan till under 80 miljoner dollar (540 miljoner kronor), från nuvarande drygt 90 miljoner dollar. De tre huvudansvariga företagen Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman och BAE Systems har redan hittat drygt 50 delprojekt där det går att spara pengar genom att använda andra material, ändra utformning på delar och så vidare.