THE ERA OF TRUMP

[Smitty-48]

Once you slap all the new bells and whistles on the Block III Advanced Super Hornet, the price is going to be comparable, most of the price of the F-35 is in the sensors and the software, not the airframe.

Trump is just pretending to shop around so he gets a better deal on the F-35, that's all he's doing. He's not actually going to just go with the supped up F-18, it's a negotiation tactic.

Lockmart knows he's bluffing, there's no way in hell the Air Force is settling for Super Bugs, if he was serious, he'd be pitting F-35 against F-16V.

Super Bug is fine for the Navy, but it's a dog if you're not flying off a carrier, could drop F-35C in favour of more Bugs, but F-35A/B is TBTF/TINA.

[The Conservative]

Once you slap all the new bells and whistles on the Block III Advanced Super Hornet, the price is going to be comparable, most of the price of the F-35 is in the sensors and the software, not the airframe.

Well we could always sup up the A-10...

A-10 is a single role platform, can't replace your F-16's and F/A-18's with A-10's.

It was a tongue-in-cheek statement... but you can't deny the role it plays, it plays well.

[The Conservative]

Once you slap all the new bells and whistles on the Block III Advanced Super Hornet, the price is going to be comparable, most of the price of the F-35 is in the sensors and the software, not the airframe.

Trump is just pretending to shop around so he gets a better deal on the F-35, that's all he's doing. He's not actually going to just go with the supped up F-18, it's a negotiation tactic.

Lockmart knows he's bluffing, there's no way in hell the Air Force is settling for Super Bugs, if he was serious, he'd be pitting F-35 against F-16V.

No chance of that, although I'd love to see it.

[Smitty-48]

I'm bullish on F-35, whatever the limitations imposed on it by the original program requirements, it still beats both Super Bug and Super Viper.

[StCapps]

Lockmart knows he's bluffing, there's no way in hell the Air Force is settling for Super Bugs, if he was serious, he'd be pitting F-35 against F-16V.

Super Bug is fine for the Navy, but it's a dog if you're not flying off a carrier, could drop F-35C in favour of more Bugs, but F-35A/B is TBTF/TINA.

Well how come they just a had press conference saying that costs of the F-35 will be kept in line, all after Trump called them out on it being too pricey and after he threatened to shop around? If they are going to call his bluff, how come they publicly caved and made Trump look like a genius from a PR perspective?

[Smitty-48]

Lockmart is doing everything they can to get the price down, Lockmart is taking losses here, they're not overcharging, they're charging what it costs, beating them over the head is not going to make it cost less, and there is no comparable aircraft to F-35, unless you're restarting Raptor production with a F-22B, which would be considerably more expensive than F-35.

[StCapps]

Lockmart is doing everything they can to get the price down, Lockmart is taking losses here, they're not overcharging, they're charging what it costs, beating them over the head is not going to make it cost less, and there is no comparable aircraft to F-35, unless you're restarting Raptor production with a F-22B, which would be considerably more expensive than F-35.

I know beating them over the head with it won't actually keep costs in line, but it does allow one to pretend that it did. Which is exactly what Trump is going to do in the end, the fact that it will be a lie is irrelevant, because it's all about public perception. Using the bully pulpit to make himself look good, no matter the actual outcome, he has proven to be quite skilled at this.

[Smitty-48]

Well that would be a lie, but whatever.

[StCapps]

Well that would be a lie, but whatever.

Lies can change public perception in his favor as easily, or even more easily than the truth, especially when the truth is complicated and hard to understand while the lie is simple and easy to understand. He will yield that weapon when it benefits him and use the bully pulpit to enhance it's effect and that's what he's doing by saying the F-35 is too expensive and he's thinking about shopping around. So far, it is working to perfection.

[Smitty-48]

Like I said, whatever, I'm only interested in the actual truth about the jet, the bullshit is piled so high at this point, I don't think it makes any difference, the caterwauling about F-35 will persist until it flies in combat, at which point, F-35 will shut everybody up, by getting in and out, rounds on target on time, not only unstopped, but undetected.