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: 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 Kevin McCallum April 24, 2020 The Vermont Air National Guard dramatically increased the number of F-35 flights from its South Burlington base in the first week of April, despite official claims that there had been “no change” in flight operations. The 158th Fighter Wing flew five times as many times during the week of […]
By Kevin McCallum April 3, 2020 Commercial air traffic at Burlington International Airport has taken a nosedive, but across the runway, the Vermont Air National Guard continues to send its new F-35s roaring into the skies daily. The juxtaposition of the recent plunge in civilian air traffic with an increase in the number of F-35s […]
Below is the full pdf response to complaint regarding GBIC involvement in the 2018 Burlington ballot item on F-35 basing:
By Jasper Craven Feb 16, 2020 On Jan. 5, Col. David Shevchik Jr. took command of the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing. A native Vermonter, Shevchik replaced Col. David Smith, who retired after more than 30 years in the organization. Shevchik was born in Springfield and grew up in Essex. He graduated from […]
By Sean Kennedy March 2, 2020 Members of Congress have done their utmost to ignore the mounting problems in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II program. In the fiscal 2019 Department of Defense Operational Test and Evaluation Annual Report, released to the public Jan. 30, it was revealed that testers consider the “accuracy of the gun, as […]
By: Dan Grazier for POGO, Nov. 1, 2019 Pentagon leaders are likely reveling in the news that they have negotiated an agreement with Lockheed Martin that they claim drives down the unit cost of the F-35 joint strike fighter to below $80 million in the next few years. While any reduction in costs for the most expensive […]