<story><title>The F-35 Is a $1.4T National Disaster (2017)</title><url>http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-f-35-14-trillion-dollar-national-disaster-19985</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>jpobst</author><text>It depends on what you consider the goal of the F-35 to be.&lt;p&gt;If you believe it&amp;#x27;s to build a next generation fighter plane then yes it&amp;#x27;s a disaster.&lt;p&gt;If you believe it&amp;#x27;s a way to funnel trillions of dollars of taxpayer money to private defense companies then it&amp;#x27;s a rousing success.</text></comment>
<story><title>The F-35 Is a $1.4T National Disaster (2017)</title><url>http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-f-35-14-trillion-dollar-national-disaster-19985</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>rayvd</author><text>How do the issues with the F-35 platform stack up against those of earlier models?  I&amp;#x27;ve read anecdotes that early on the F-16 and F-15 also had significant flaws, yet those were eventually sorted out and both have become mainstays of air forces around the world.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve no doubt there have been massive costs overruns (what government program doesn&amp;#x27;t), but would be willing to bet that the F-35 turns out to be a really good plane and does nothing to threaten the US&amp;#x27;s position as the premier air power.&lt;p&gt;Some good discussion:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.quora.com&amp;#x2F;Is-the-F-35-as-bad-as-many-people-claim-Will-it-be-a-good-fighter-when-its-needed&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.quora.com&amp;#x2F;Is-the-F-35-as-bad-as-many-people-clai...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>