While the Pentagon now expects the plane to fly until 2088, GAO found the services are planning to slash flight hours, which can help hold down the program's topline.
  • Nakoichi [he/him]9•2 months ago

    2 trillion dollars for a plane that can't fly in rain.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM8•2 months ago

      2 trillion dollars for a plane that can’t fly in rain.

      What kind of sorcery is this, we ask again?

      The engineers must have been high on something strong,

      To create a flying machine so horribly wrong!

      • @SSJ2Marx4•2 months ago

        You know how we all found out that Boeing had dry rotted from the inside because the 737 Max started falling apart? Whose to say that Lockheed hasn't gone through exactly the same shit, but we just barely get glimpses of it through the smoke of classified documents.

    • @tartan@lemmy.ml5•2 months ago

      “But we can’t possibly implement universal healthcare, how would we pay for it?”

    • davel [he/him]@lemmy.ml5•2 months ago

      You’d think that the F-35 Lightning II, being a Lightning-type Pokémon, could survive lighting attacks.

      • Thordros [he/him, comrade/them]2•2 months ago

        Yeah, but it's flying / electric, so it still takes full damage from both water and electric moves. And if the weather is sleet, it's basically game over.

      • Flyberius [comrade/them]1•2 months ago

        Something to do with being unable to make the fuel tanks inert. If you Google it there's quite a lot about it. I'm no expert so I can't tell you what that really means

        • @drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.com3•2 months ago

          I did google it, that's why I was confused; https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024/04/02/f-35a-lightning-cleared-to-fly-in-lightning-for-first-time-in-4-years/

          It's about lightning, not rain, and only affects the A variant which is, at least in the US' case, a bit over half of all variants.

          • principalkohoutek [none/use name]3•2 months ago

            https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2022/11/23/air-force-f-35-lightning-iis-still-cant-fly-within-25-miles-of-lightning/?sh=7659da1e663e dated 2022, but covers the issue in detail.