The F-35 Question: Value vs. Price Tag.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Editor's Notes

* The knives are out again for the F-35 joint strike fighter.

For anyone who has followed this program, periodic flurries of criticism are fairly regular occurrences. They usually follow Government Accountability Office reports, leaked or officially released test-and-evaluation documents, or in this case, some attention from the mainstream press.

One prominent think tank expert called the most recent flareup "a media feeding frenzy" and essentially blamed reporters for all the undue attention.

At the end of its run it will be the most expensive weapon system ever produced, employing tens of thousands of workers in several countries, and news--good or bad--can move the stock market value of its prime contractor Lockheed Martin and cause ripple effects in the industrial base. The F-35 will always receive a lot of attention from the press.

And who can blame the media for reporting that the new Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr., when recently announcing a tactical air study looking at the numbers of jet fighters the service needs, also suggested a reduced role for the F-35A.

"I want to moderate how much we're using those aircraft," he told reporters. "You don't drive your Ferrari to work every day, you only drive it on Sundays. This is our 'high end' [fighter], we want to make sure we don't use it all for the low-end fight....We don't want to burn up capability now and wish we had it later."

It was perfectly reasonable to then ask if the Air Force is going to stick with its planned buy of 1,763 aircraft. Suggesting that the Air Force will only roll out the F-35 during high-end fights or special missions calls into question how many it needs. After all, I only wear tuxedos for special occasions. That's why I don't have 10 of them in my closet.

Prediction: whatever new number this tac-air study comes up with, there will still be critics stating there are too many F-35s, citing the cost of the platform and its ongoing sustainability woes, with some going so far as to demand that the program be canceled.

It's fine to criticize programs such as the F-35 whether a member of the media or a member of the public. But most of us mere mortals will never know what it's like to fly in one. We can't test drive it to make up our own minds like when we go to the Ford dealership to try a new Fusion.

But there are some independent people who can.

I'm talking about the growing number of new nations who are lining up to buy the...