by Winslow Wheeler & Dan Grazier April 07, 2021 Official support for the F-35 program has quickly eroded during the first three months of 2021. In the waning days of the Trump administration, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller called it a “piece of s..t.” The Air Force chief of staff, General Charles Brown Jr., […]
By The Editorial Board March 12, 2021 Last week, the new head of the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Adam Smith, said in an interview that the F-35 fighter jet was a “rathole” draining money. He said the Pentagon should consider whether to “cut its losses.” That promptly set off another round of groaning about […]
By David Axe February 23, 2021 The U.S. Air Force’s top officer wants the service to develop an affordable, lightweight fighter to replace hundreds of Cold War-vintage F-16s and complement a small fleet of sophisticated—but costly and unreliable—stealth fighters. The result would be a high-low mix of expensive “fifth-generation” F-22s and F-35s and inexpensive “fifth-generation-minus” […]
By Courtney Lamdin October 29, 2020 A sizable contribution from a Vermont utility will help soundproof buildings in three Chittenden County cities affected by F-35 jet noise, officials said Thursday. Vermont Gas Systems will kick in $550,000 for Burlington International Airport’s noise mitigation program in fiscal year 2021. The amount covers the required 10 percent […]
By Grace Elletson September 27, 2020 Jen Lazer didn’t think that motherhood in Burlington, Vermont, would include desensitizing her baby to the frequent roar of F-35 fighter jets. “She stares at the sky and shakes and cries and grabs me. She thrusts her head into my chest,” Lazer said. “We explain that there are machines […]
By Colin Flanders September 3, 2020 Burlington International Airport has received more than $6 million in federal grants to complete infrastructure upgrades and address noise concerns related to the controversial F-35 jets. The largest of the three grants awarded to the Burlington travel hub is a $3.49 million appropriation that will be used to soundproof Chamberlin Elementary […]
By: Jake Johnson July 28, 2020 In a floor speech late Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described the GOP’s newly released coronavirus stimulus package as a “carefully tailored” plan to provide financial relief to desperate Americans. But a look at the legislative text (pdf) released by Senate Republicans shows the HEALS Act is replete […]
By: Joe Gould July 29, 2020 WASHINGTON ― Senate Republicans’ proposed $1 trillion coronavirus relief package includes at least $7 billion for weapons programs, part of $29 billion for defense overall. The 177-page draft appropriations legislation unveiled Monday would include funding for military helicopters, aircraft, ships and missile defense systems. The bill also includes $11 […]
By Steven Klafka and Rosanne Greco May 8, 2020 The alarming coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that we must be less wasteful and much wiser in how we spend taxpayer money. The enormous human and economic toll of this pandemic has been exacerbated by our failure to invest in societal needs like our health care […]