The Trillion Dollar F-35 Won’t Even Be Able To Shoot Its Gun Until 2019

The Trillion Dollar F-35 Won’t Even Be Able To Shoot Its Gun Until 2019

Last year, Australia dramatically boosted its order of the still-in-development, problem-prone F-35 stealth fighter. Now a new report says the jet’s 25mm cannon won’t be operational until 2019 at the earliest. Even more laughable is that it probably doesn’t even need the gun to begin with.

Unnamed US Air Force officials revealed the bad news in a Daily Beast story about the F-35. Apparently the software that will power the four-barreled rotary cannon on the Air Force version of the jet, the F-35A, won’t be ready for at least four more years. The US Navy and Marine Corps version use a different cannon, but it will also be years before the software’s ready for those guns.

The real kicker here is that the gun is probably just dead weight (read: a waste of taxpayer dollars) anyways. The F-35A’s cannon can fire 3,300 rounds per minute but can only hold 180 rounds. “I would be lying if I said there exists any plausible tactical air-to-air scenario where the F-35 will need to employ the gun,” one senior Air Force official told the Daily Beast. “Personally, I just don’t see it ever happening and think they should have saved the weight [by getting rid of the gun altogether].”

The jet, which is also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, is already the most expensive weapon in American history. It’s expected to cost the Pentagon well over $US1 trillion over the next 50 years. And little hiccups like this only add more taxpayer dollars to that price tag. [Daily Beast]

Image via AP


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March 2014: The Insanely Expensive F-35 Is Delayed Again, For Australia Too

A United States Government report reveals that the F-35 will be delayed yet again. This time, the problem is stalled software development. It’s just the latest in a long line of delays and problems. Australia’s F-35 order, for at least 14 jets, is looking more and more like throwing money into the wind.


The Life And Times Of A Fighter Jet Test Pilot

Over here at Gizmodo Australia, we’re all lucky enough to be living out our dream jobs. Everyday we’re testing new gadgets, new tech and previewing the next big thing. My job, however, is nothing compared to the job of Elliot Clements. His colleagues call him “Hemo”, not because it’s a clever nickname from some obscure experience, but because that was his callsign for the 14 years he was in the Navy, flying combat missions in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Hemo is a fighter jet test pilot on the trillion-dollar F-35 fighter jet program, and he really does have the best job in the world.


February 2014: The Only Thing Keeping The F-35 Lightning Relevant Is The F-22 Raptor

Even if they are primarily just cheap knockoffs, China’s rapidly growing fleet of next-gen aircraft are poised to seriously challenge American air superiority in the coming years. To prevent that, argues Chief of US Air Force Air Command Command Gen. Michael Hostage, the US will need plenty of fifth-generation fighters of its own — no matter the cost.


January 2014: US Defence Contractor Arrested For Shipping Military Secrets To Iran

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November 2013: Monster Machines: The Next F-35 Lightning’s Engine Adapts For Flight, Fight And Beyond


Unlike commercial airliners, modern military aircraft are subjected to ever-changing flying conditions — from high-thrust takeoffs to flying at altitude to combat manoeuvres. So why are they outfitted with engines that perform optimally in only one of those flight envelopes? For the next iteration of the F-35 Lightning II, Pratt and Whitney is developing an engine that performs at its best no matter what’s required of it.


September 2013: Inside The Pentagon’s Trillion Dollar F-35 Embarrassment


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May 2013: First Footage Of An
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May 2013: The Most Awesome
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July 2012: Pilots Say Flying The
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March 2012: Pentagon Helps New Stealth Fighter Cheat On Key Performance Test

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January 2012: The Most Expensive Plane Of All Time Takes Its First Gorgeous Night Flight

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December 2011: Trillion-Dollar Jet Has Thirteen Expensive Flaws

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, meant to replace nearly every tactical warplane in the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, was already expected to cost $US1 trillion dollars for development, production and maintenance over the next 50 years. Now that cost is expected to grow, owing to 13 different design flaws uncovered in the last two months by a hush-hush panel of five Pentagon experts. It could cost up to a billion dollars to fix the flaws on copies of the jet already in production, to say nothing of those yet to come


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