May 25, 2016 Despite the ongoing risks that the Lockheed Martin fighter jets will crash to the earth, the Pentagon plans to spend an additional $16 billion on another batch of F-35s. On Tuesday, the Pentagon finally acknowledged that the beleaguered F-35 fighter jet will not be ready for its final test phase until 2018 […]
By Eileen Andreoli May 8, 2016 With his recent reversal of his support of the EB-5 program, Sen. Patrick Leahy seemed to declare that he has realized the errors of his ways. His denouncement of the program is admission that the EB-5 project is corrupt and has harmed both the investors and everyday Vermonters. Now […]
By James Marc Leas June 16, 2016 The F-35 basing decision followed the Flint, Michigan, model – eyes closed to the foreseeable catastrophic consequences. The Air Force Environmental Impact Study (EIS) says the F-35 is expected to have a crash rate like the F-22, which has a much higher crash rate than the F-16. The […]
By Colonel Rosanne Greco, USAF (retired) June 15, 2015 Dear Councilors, Once again, I urge all of you to support joining the NEPA lawsuit, which is simply to get the Air Force to comply with federal law and provide the necessary information on the basing impacts of the F-35. Many people tried – unsuccessfully for years […]
By Colonel Rosanne Greco, USAF (retired) June 11, 2016 Dear South Burlington City Councilors, I would like to first express my gratitude to the council chair for being willing to address the serious issue of the safety and noise impacts of the F-35 basing in our city. Secondly, I would like the council to know that […]
By Lara Seligman As the Air Force races to declare its F-35 jets operational before the end of the year, observers are still warning about schedule delays, a faulty logistics system, and software glitches. But here at Edwards, the pilots, maintainers and technicians of the F-35 Integrated Test Force say they are happy with the […]
By Lara Seligman Here at the F-35 Integrated Test Force, pilots spend their days simulating real missions to prepare the jets to one day operate on the battlefield. Air Force Times got a glimpse into the day-to-day life of an F-35 test pilot during a May 4 visit to this base north of Los Angeles. […]
April 12, 2016 Air Force officials announced April 12 that Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas; and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, are candidate bases for the first Reserve-led F-35A Lightning II location. The preferred and reasonable alternatives are expected to be selected in […]
By Peter Levring Denmark’s government plans to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets with Lockheed Martin planes in an order worth 20 billion kroner ($3 billion). The minority government of Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, which still needs parliamentary approval before the order can be placed, wants to spend the money on 27 F-35 jets […]
BY MARCUS WEISGERBER MAY 12, 2016 In the southwest corner of a mile-long assembly plant here, an F-16 fighter jet is slowly coming to life. That plane, being built for the Iraqi Air Force, is far more sophisticated than the first Falcon to come off this production line more than 40 years ago, but it […]