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1151…La question est après tout intéressante, pour un avion qui est encore si loin d’être en service (ce qui justifie de le considérer comme n’existant pas encore en tant que ce qu'il devrait être). Une lectrice, “CMLFdA”, signale à notre attention cet article de Defense News du 29 juin 2010, présentant une vigoureuse intervention de Andrew Krepinevich, président du Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, proche de l’administration Obama. (Krepinevitch fait partie du Defense Policy Board, mis en place en 2002 par Rumsfeld sous la direction alors hautement significative de Richard Perle, commission qui a depuis changé de “couleur” idéologique mais qui reste importante en ce sens qu’elle a, à l’intérieur du Pentagone, un accès direct au secrétaire à la défense. Krepinevitch est d’ailleurs présenté comme “a top Pentagon adviser”.)
A la différence d’autres rapports sur cette intervention de Krepinevitch, qui est une critique stratégique générale, Defense News base le rapport qu’il en fait sur le cas du JSF qui est bien entendu typique. Krepinevitch présente l'avion comme militairement insuffisant, voire dépassé, face aux conditions du monde actuel.
«The Obama administration may have to rethink whether the U.S. military will need 2,500 F-35 fighter jets, and needs to craft a clear, prioritized national security strategy, a top Pentagon adviser told reporters June 29.
»The world has changed tremendously since when the F-35 fighter was designed, and potential American foes have acquired systems that could render other kinds of U.S. aircraft, missile systems and other platforms more useful in certain situations than the multibillion-dollar F-35, said Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
»With possible American enemies, like China, developing and fielding ever-more advanced systems - such as sophisticated radar suites and surface-to-air missiles - Pentagon and administration officials must examine if the Lockheed Martin-made Lightning II will bring as much “value” to combat by the time it comes online next decade as thought decades previous when it was designed, he said.
»Though the program has recently been in the spotlight due to significant cost growth and schedule delays, the Pentagon plans to buy a total of 2,457 of the three F-35 variants. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other senior DoD officials have tethered part of their legacies to turning around the program and one day fielding a fleet of that size.
»But because it might not be as useful from so-called forward air bases or aircraft carriers because of foes' advanced air defenses, the Defense Department might have to swallow hard, buy fewer F-35s and use any savings to buy other aircraft and missiles.
»Such alternatives, Krepinevich said, might prove more useful in combating such advanced air defenses. But, he added, "it depends on how we deal with this problem.”
»That very question is being studied as part of two ongoing internal Pentagon studies: one on the U.S. military's proper global posture, and another on how it should carry out long-range strike operations, said Krepinevich, who is a prominent member of the Defense Policy Board. That panel provides advice on a range of key issues directly to the defense secretary.»
“CMLFdA” (avec dedefensa.org)
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