The acquisition of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is thus far the most expensive defense program to date. Christopher Bolkcom a specialist in military aviation has written the Congressional Research Service document on the status, background and issues faced by the program. The Department of Defense (DoD) recognized, that now more than ever, the services need to consolidate resources and jointly tackle the shared issues of high acquisition and operational cost of aircraft.
From its conception the F-35 emerged as a result of defense contractor competition. The U.S. government for the first time in history witnesses a direct engineering battle between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, a well-known commercial airline manufacturer. The goal was …show more content…
For years as the hardware were being produced, designs, programs, systems and software were being tested. Software testing was extensive as the new fighters need to be able to communicate with all service components of the DoD and as well as coalition nations that would also be purchasing these aircraft. In a simulator, pilots would learn to fly the aircraft not yet in existence. The goal was to get a feel for what the aircraft may feel like once produced.
When it came to the operational testing, pilots because of the accuracy of advance computer simulations and models, felt like they have been flying the aircraft for years. Ultimately testing revealed that the Boing versions required modifications in order to achieve the capability requirements of the services. The F-35 by Lockheed Martin in testing was able to take off in a short distance, achieve supersonic speeds, and land vertically all in one flight. This resulted in Lockheed Martin receiving the government contract for procuring the next generation JSF, a multi-billion-dollar
From its conception the F-35 emerged as a result of defense contractor competition. The U.S. government for the first time in history witnesses a direct engineering battle between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, a well-known commercial airline manufacturer. The goal was …show more content…
For years as the hardware were being produced, designs, programs, systems and software were being tested. Software testing was extensive as the new fighters need to be able to communicate with all service components of the DoD and as well as coalition nations that would also be purchasing these aircraft. In a simulator, pilots would learn to fly the aircraft not yet in existence. The goal was to get a feel for what the aircraft may feel like once produced.
When it came to the operational testing, pilots because of the accuracy of advance computer simulations and models, felt like they have been flying the aircraft for years. Ultimately testing revealed that the Boing versions required modifications in order to achieve the capability requirements of the services. The F-35 by Lockheed Martin in testing was able to take off in a short distance, achieve supersonic speeds, and land vertically all in one flight. This resulted in Lockheed Martin receiving the government contract for procuring the next generation JSF, a multi-billion-dollar