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Watchdog report: Navy risking troops’ lives by pushing the F-35C into combat

U.S. Navy photo

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Last month, the United States Navy declared that the carrier-based variant of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter, known as the F-35C, was ready to commence combat operations. Now, a new report from the non-profit, bipartisan Project on Government Oversight (POGO) says that decision contradicts the Navy’s own data regarding the platform.

According to POGO, “The Navy is pushing ahead with the aircraft in spite of evidence that it is not ready for combat and could therefore put at risk missions, as well as the troops who depend on it to get to the fight.”

(U.S. Navy)

The report doesn’t get any rosier from there, even going so far as to point out seemingly intentional omissions from the Pentagon’s annual operational testing report for fiscal year 2018—a particularly damning assertion seeing as that report does not paint the F-35 program in the most positive light, raising some questions about the overall program’s readiness rates and some ongoing issues with the aircraft themselves.

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  • Alan t

    I was in Arlington,TX a couple of days ago and i passed two Lockheed Martin facilities.
    I didn’t see Marylin crossing the street but i did wrap Big Red up a bit in case God granted me the opportunity to run her treasonous ass over

  • Mason

    It might, good chance it could. But yes it will always be under a black cloud unless it single hand-idly wins a war. The problem is letting a company build to final design, while delivering prototypes that are essentially test beds themselves, as fully operational . . . and charging trillions for the privilege to do so.

  • Daniel

    Well thank goodness we didn’t spends hundreds of billions of dollars on this project, before it was too late… Oh, wait.

  • CJR

    It will never do what has been promised and so it will fly under a black cloud.

  • Alan t

    Marylin Hewson needs to be tried, convi ted and hung.