As already reported in the "Freie Welt", the traffic light government wants to invest billions in overpriced F-35 fighter jets. The F-35s are intended to replace the specially equipped Luftwaffe Tornadoes stationed in the Eifel. Through so-called nuclear sharing, these are able to transport and drop tactical US nuclear bombs. The new F-35 should then take over this task. The Bundeswehr is already celebrating the announcement with advertising videos on YouTube.

It has been repeatedly reported in recent years that the F-35 stealth multirole fighter aircraft is technically immature and full of bugs. That has not changed to this day. According to a Pentagon report, the F-35 jets have significant shortcomings, as reported by »n-tv«, »Welt« and »Focus-Online«. Hundreds of significant mistakes and shortcomings are mentioned.

The F-35 is not fully developed yet. Even the first customer, the USA (US Air Force and US Navy), has found that the machines have so far been significantly less reliable than advertised by Lockheed Martin. Accordingly, the US Department of Defense announced that it is likely to order only 61 instead of the originally planned 94 jets in the coming fiscal year 2023.

In the »world« there is even talk of »technology scrap«. Pentagon experts found 845 serious deficiencies. Nevertheless, the Ampel-Scholz government, in its boundless naivety, allowed the Americans to talk it into the deal. That's called panic actionism in the shadow of war.

The ISSB (Institute for Strategic Studies Berlin) wrote about it here on »Freie Welt« in 2014. Here is our article from back then:

USA: Most expensive armament program ever

The #US wants to replace its fighter jet fleet with modern stealth aircraft. The F-35 JSF Lightning II serves as the base model. But the costs of the armaments program are getting out of hand.

The European taxpayers have already been hit deep in their pockets. The Eurofighter Typhoon has cost enormous sums in production and acquisition.

American taxpayers are likely to be even less happy. The Pentagon plans to replace most of its fighter jets with F-35 JSF Lightning II stealth jets. Together with the F-22 Raptor, the entire combat aircraft arsenal is to be converted to stealth technology in this way. Both types are developed and produced by the US aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

The costs are already exceeding all expectations. Including development, acquisition, maintenance, arming, upgrades and ongoing operating costs, the program will have cost approximately US$1.5 trillion by the end of its cycle. This makes it the most expensive armaments program of all time, dwarfing even NASA's lunar program.

Also on board the expensive adventure: #Australia, #Canada, Great #Britain, #Italy, #Netherlands, #Turkey, #Norway, #Denmark, #Japan, Israel and #Singapore. In some states, displeasure is already stirring. The program becomes too expensive. Critics fear the plane will not live up to expectations.

Myth of stealth technology

Let's take a look back. During the 1991 Gulf War, the United States surprised the world with its state-of-the-art F-117 Nighthawk fighter aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

The futuristic-looking aircraft was the first operational combat aircraft with stealth stealth technology. During the Gulf War, the F-117s were able to penetrate Iraqi radar surveillance unhindered and destroy the anti-aircraft missile systems. The world was impressed.

But just a few years later the myth was dispelled. During the Yugoslav war, the Serbs figured out how to locate and shoot down the plane. The first F-117 shot down came as a shock message to the Pentagon: Stealth planes are not completely invisible.

Since then, experts in Russia, China and around the world have been working on better radar technologies to better locate and identify even the smallest signals.

Superjet F-22 Raptor is the most expensive aircraft in the world per unit

The current fight against the terrorists of the "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria and Iraq has once again focused the attention of the world press on US military technology. For the first time, the ultra-modern F-22 Raptor stealth fighters were deployed in a combat zone. Although it has been in service for years, the superfighter had never seen combat before. The reason was technical problems, most recently with the Oxygen supply for the pilots.

The F-22 is not only the most modern, but also the most expensive combat aircraft in the world at a purchase price of 356 million dollars each. As such, the US can only purchase a limited number of these superjets.

But the Pentagon wants to replace almost the entire fleet of fighter jets with stealth jets. Therefore, the development of a less expensive stealth multirole fighter aircraft was commissioned. Lockheed Martin again won the tender. The model of hope: the F-35 JSF Lightning II.

One model for everything?

The #idea: the more aircraft of one type are built, the cheaper the development and acquisition costs per unit become. Therefore, the F-35 should be an all-round aircraft, a "jack of all trades" of air combat. The very idea drives critics to despair, because a compromise of everything is good for nothing.

The aircraft should be operational not only as a fighter, but also as a fighter-bomber. It should also meet the different requirements of the US Air Force, the US Marines and the US Navy.

All three have their specific requirements: The US Air Force wants a fast stealth aircraft for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions. The F-35A should correspond to this. The US Marines want to replace their Harrier VTOL aircraft. That's why their F-35 should also be a high-flyer. The F-35 B should fulfill this wish. The US Navy needs planes with wider wings to safely land on an aircraft carrier. In addition, the wings should be able to be folded up so that the aircraft does not take up so much space below deck. The F-35 C was developed for these special requests.

Can the F-35 be used as a ground support fighter-bomber?

The plan to use the F-35 as a fighter jet in support of ground forces is causing a lot of head shaking among military experts. So far, mainly special aircraft have been used for this, which were specially designed for this purpose. The best known and most successful ground attack aircraft is currently the A-10.

The Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II has destroyed more enemy tanks, military vehicles and guns since entering service in the late 1970s than any other military aircraft currently in service.

Because of its ugliness, the A-10 is also known as the Warthog ("warthog"). The plane is slow and has relatively few electronics on board. But the A-10 is maneuverable, heavily armored, armed with a heavy fixed cannon and extremely efficient at engaging ground targets. In both Gulf wars and in Afghanistan, she was a reliable support for the ground forces.

According to plans by the Pentagon and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, the A-10 should be decommissioned. In June 2014, a vote in the US Congress prevented this plan in good time.

How the F-35 will take over the tasks of the A-10 in the future remains a big mystery, not only for experts. The F-35 cannot carry even remotely heavy armament and is unsuited for low-level combat.

Is the F-35 suitable as an air fighter jet?

The actual air superiority fighter is to remain the F-22. But because of the small number of pieces, the new all-purpose miracle weapon F-35 must also be able to act as a fighter for air superiority battles. In this capacity, it will replace McDonnell Douglas' large and expensive F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics' small, inexpensive and highly maneuverable F-16 Fighting Falcon. After all, the F-16 was so successful that more than 4,000 examples were put into service worldwide.

The F-35 towers over both aircraft in cost and intricate avionics. However, in terms of armament, speed, maneuverability and operational capability, it does not represent progress. Its strength rests solely on stealth technology. Once the F-35 comes into view, the stealth function is no longer useful. Then the combat characteristics count.

In addition, the F-35 can only carry a few weapons. Because all weapons must be hidden "under the skin" in the fuselage so that the aircraft does not lose its stealth properties. Additional weapons can be mounted externally on the wings. But then the radar camouflage is gone.

Experts warn: F-35 has deficient combat characteristics

Many experts doubt the superiority of the F-35 in air combat. One of the most renowned fighter engineers and F-35 critic is Pierre Sprey, who was instrumental in the design of the A-10 and F-16. In numerous interviews on US and Canadian television, he gave the F-35 a scathing testimony.

In his opinion, the F-35 has wings that are far too small and a fuselage that is too thick. Therefore, she is less agile in close combat. It cannot fly tight turns, but shoots over like an arrow aim beyond. It can be easily outmaneuvered by other modern fighters and can hardly dodge approaching anti-aircraft missiles.

Even European fighters like the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen and the French Dassault Rafale could defeat the F-35 in close air combat, not to mention the extremely maneuverable Russian Sukhoi Su-35 or the stealth T-50 PAK FA.

F-35 pilots complain about lack of visibility from the cockpit. There is a complex vision and navigation system in the helmet for this. If the highly complex navigation software fails, the pilot remains unable to manoeuvre. Also, the F-35 has only one engine. If this fails, the F-35 will fall like a stone from the sky.

In the end, all hope lies in the stealth technique: you want to shoot down the opponents before they even realize that they are being attacked. But once the plane is located, all benefits are gone. A high-resolution modern tracking system could derail the most expensive armaments project of all time.