Wingless Raptors andLow-Energy Lightning Bolts

The new generation of fighter planes is meant to ensure air superiority, but wishes don’t come cheap

From the technological standpoint, the F-35 is a marvel. From the military standpoint the fighter jet, nicknamed “Lightning II,” is either mercilessly superior or just plain deadly; it all depends on your viewpoint. It’s the largest air warfare project in the world, but it has one serious problem: the United States doesn’t have enough money to pay for it.

It’s the same old story with the F-35 as it was a few years ago when the F-22 “Raptor,” which means “bird of prey,” was supposed to be the solution. The Pentagon said they had planned for a total of 380 units that they claimed were “urgently” needed. Then the endless string of wars and skirmishes that the White House and the Pentagon stirred up exhausted not only the people, the soldiers and the politicians, the aircraft also began giving up the ghost. Example: The F-15, considered the premiere fighter jet in the inventory because of its versatility in these aggressive times, now hardly ever flies. And when it does fly it often falls apart in the air. The entire fleet was grounded when an Air National Guard F-15C fell apart during a routine flight on November 2nd, 2007. Experts determined the cause to be material fatigue. Scarcely a month later, the entire fleet of F-15’s was again grounded. While the U.S. military owns about 400 of the aircraft, only 170 are considered operational.

Never before was the U.S. Air Force so small; never before had the mightiest Air Force in the world so few airplanes. If they hadn’t pimped the F-15 out to become the F-15E, Bush would have had to play ruler of the world with vintage aircraft. The 220 F-15E “Strike Eagle” aircraft available do provide him a certain amount of military breathing space, especially now in Afghanistan where the F-15 embodies high-tech capabilities, but only in conjunction with its flying guidance station, the AWACS aircraft.

That was to have improved with the F-22 “Raptor” and especially with the F-35 “Lightning II.” But nobody can pay for these improvements to U.S. fighting ability, least of all the decaying U.S. government, now suffering its worst financial crisis in decades. According to an internal study, the Pentagon will have to get by with about $55 billion less in coming years despite increasing costs for manpower and technology in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The F-35, planned in three different versions, is intended to replace the F-16’s in the German Air Force inventory as well as the various F-18 versions flown by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force wants 1763 of them, the Navy and Marine Corps 340 units each. But over the years, there have been numerous development problems that continue to upset the Pentagon’s and congress’s plans, not only technically but financially as well.

Since 2001, program costs for the F-35 have officially risen some 28 percent. In 2001, the bare-bones version of the plane – that is, without weaponry or instruments – cost around 30 million dollars. Now, the “A” version goes for $90 million, and for a “B” or a “C” version the price goes up by at least another one-third.

What to do? As usual, they’re stretching the project out. The budget plans for the last F-35 to come off the assembly line just under 40 years from now. By then, the military will no doubt be demanding completely different killing tools –aircraft that fly around the globe without pilots in order to fire off guided rockets at specified times through random skylights or into wedding parties. To that end, producer Lockheed Martin has planned its assembly lines to deliver almost 20 “Lightnings” per month.

In Washington these days, they’re placing a great deal of hope in their allies. Great Britain’s air force and navy wants to deploy 138 F-35’s, Italy 131 (which will be manufactured in Italy itself), and the Netherlands wants 85 of the aircraft. Turkey and Australia are figuring on 100 planes each, Norway and Denmark will each take 48, Canada will need 60 and Israel, a latecomer into the consortium, has expressed interest in 75 F-35’s. In total, according to Lockheed Martin’s figures, 4000 “Lightnings” can be built – provided the money’s there. So the Pentagon and Lockheed will try a teaser offering.

By the end of this year, anyone interested in the new weapons system has to pay 10 percent down on their total order. With the advance money, Lockheed can get better prices from its suppliers, series production can proceed rapidly, therefore resulting in a less expensive product. The trick isn’t exactly new. The United States has long peddled its budget deficit to the world. Why should the defense industry be any different than the banking industry?

The shakedown deal seems to be working. In the past few weeks, the following insider information has been circulating: Israel will buy 15.2 billion dollars worth of F-35’s. That’s the first sale of the brand new fighter plane to any foreign power. Israel intends to make the F-35 the backbone of its air force. Everyone knows how effectively the little nation can deal in order to keep its Near-East hegemony intact.

Other nations, such as Spain, Singapore and Japan have also expressed interest in the American fighter plane.