Air Force Grounds $400 Billion F-35s Because of 'Peeling and Crumbling' Insulation (washingtonpost.com)

 When I was a kid in the 50's "made in Japan" was a joke. Everything from Japan seemed, to our young minds, to be cheaply made.

Toys made in Japan, when taken apart, revealed that some of the materials were recycled steel beer cans and such.

Eventually Japan got it together and started with Sony Trinitron TV's and awesome stereos and incredible quality vehicles.

Then as a teenager "made in China" was a joke. Everything from China seemed cheap and poorly made.

But guys like Steve Jobs figured out how to produce wonderful things made in China.

Well I guess it is our turn now..."Made in America" unbelievably expensive and really poor quality!!!

Less than two months after declaring the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter ready for combat, the Air Force on Friday announced that it was temporarily grounding 15 of the jets after it discovered that insulation was "peeling and crumbling" inside the fuel tanks. 

The setback is the latest for the $400 billion system, the most expensive in the history of the Pentagon.

 The problem comes as the program, which for years faced billions of dollars in cost overruns and significant schedule delays, had begun to make strides.

The insulation problem affects a total of 57 aircraft, the Air Force said, 42 of which are still in production... 

In a statement, Lockheed Martin said that "the issue is confined to one supplier source and one batch of parts." 

It emphasized that "this is not a technical or design issue; it is a supply chain manufacturing quality issue..." 

 It is unclear how long the aircraft would be grounded, how long the problem would take to fix or what the larger affect on the program would be. 
 
While nearing completion, the F-35 is still in development, and challenges are to be expected," said an Air Force spokeswoman, adding "The F-35 program has a proven track record of solving issues as they arise, and we're confident we'll continue to do so."

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Ya sure, what ever.

Homeless Americans are still roaming the streets of America.

“The county for a long time has had a disregard for the homeless population of the Civic Center,in Santa Ana California."

John McCain: F-35 is 'a scandal and a tragedy'

The F-35: Is the world's most expensive weapons program worth it?

For over two decades, the F-35 has been the symbol of everything that's wrong with mammoth defense contracts: behind schedule, over budget, and initially, over-sold.

 How did things get this way, and how did the trillion-dollar albatross come out flying in the end?

 Still, we could have seen this coming, and not just because of the technical complexity involved in making a warplane for so many constituents. 

Long before the delays and overruns that riddles the F-35 program, history was littered with illustrations of multi-mission aircraft that never quite measured up. 

Take Germany's WWII Junkers Ju-88, or the 1970s Panavia Tornado, or even the original F/A-18. 

Today the Hornet is a mainstay of the American military, but when it debuted it lacked the range and payload of the A-7 Corsair and acceleration and climb performance of the F-4 Phantom it was meant to replace.

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