Le JSF face à l’avalanche

Le JSF face à l’avalanche

On fera ici un simple relevé des nouvelles qui se pressent ces quelques derniers jours, à propos du programme JSF, dans divers domaines et, bien entendu, toutes contre le programme.

• Bill Sweetman est en train de retrouver toute sa verve à propos du programme JSF. Dans une nouvelle sur le site Ares du 16 novembre 2010, Sweetman détaille, dans son style ironique et incisif, les mauvaises nouvelles qui s’abattent sur le JSF. Il prend notamment à partie Loren B. Thompson, analyste indépendant et néanmoins appointé par Lockheed Martin, qui tente (le 15 novembre 2010) une défense désespérée contre le vent des rumeurs…

«As the clock winds down towards Monday's scheduled Defense Acquisition Board meeting on tactical aircraft plans, the Washington spin machine has gone berserk.

»Yesterday, the usually conservative Air Force Magazine daily roundup joined the flock of vultures lazily circling above the F-35B short take off, vertical landing version of the jet, reporting:

»The Pentagon is contemplating terminating production of the F-35B... Pentagon officials note that the increasing accuracy of tactical ballistic missiles in the hands of potential adversaries makes it increasingly less likely that the Marines can use the STOVL model as they’ve envisioned: either from amphibious ships right offshore or just behind the battle lines, to provide quick close air support. Such locations would all be in range of those missiles.”

»Later in the day came a retaliation strike from Lockheed Martin consultant Loren Thompson…»

• Il est vrai que la nouvelle du Daily de l’Air Force Association signalée par Sweetman est d’une signification importante. Elle l’est d’autant plus qu’elle a été suivie, comme le signale encore Sweetman, d’une autre nouvelle de même source (le 16 novembre 2010) d’une relance possible de la production du F-22, directement liée au sort du F-35. (Cette nouvelle suit la déclaration d’un nouvel élu républicain de Géorgie, Phil Gingrey, le 12 novembre 2010, concernant effectivement la relance du F-22.)

«The Air Force has apparently gotten over one of its biggest taboos: talking internally about the possibility of buying more F-22s. Until recently, USAF was under strict orders not even to think about it, but recent developments have caused the possibility to crop up in some "what if" PowerPoint slides.

»Those developments include likely further slips in the F-35 strike fighter's schedule and an upcoming defense acquisition board review of the F-35 expected to be fraught with bad news on cost.

»That would come on the heels of various deficit-cutting proposals that already suggest cutting the F-35 buy. Without F-35, Air Force fighter inventories will plummet below minimums in coming years as F-16s age out. Extending F-22 production could be the dealmaker if F-35 foes carry the day and compel USAF to take mostly new-build F-16s instead. The Raptors would provide the extra stealth force required to make the non-stealthy F-16s acceptable…»

• Après quelques jours de réserve, Aviation Week, qui ne s’engage pas à la légère sur ce terrain miné, a donné une grande place, le 15 novembre 2010, au rapport de la commission bipartisane du Congrès sur la réduction du déficit, qui recommande notamment d’importantes réductions du programme JSF. Cette appréciation de l’hebdomadaire, sous les plumes de Amy Butler de Graham Warwick, est une indication que l’on considère avec sérieux, à Washington, les recommandations de la commission… Une date importante, qui nous donnera de nouvelles indications à ce propos, est une réunion, le 22 novembre, du Defense Acquisition Board au Pentagone. (Sweetman lui accorde également une grande importance.)

«The beleaguered F-35 fighter is at yet another—and perhaps its most important—inflection point, with a bipartisan White House commission recommending a sharp curtailment of the $380-billion project, just as program officials finalize details of another potentially dramatic cost and schedule revision.

»The Defense Acquisition Board, led by Pentagon acquisition czar Ashton Carter, is scheduled to assess a technical baseline review on Nov. 22. It will dictate a new testing schedule and budget for the tri-variant, stealthy fighter and the first-ever full life-cycle price for the Lockheed Martin F-35, including maintenance. Further overruns—beyond the nearly $150 billion up to now—and delays could scare off frustrated international buyers and prompt a slower Pentagon buy, spinning the program into a so-called death spiral of ever-shrinking orders as each unit grows in price…»

• Pour ajouter l’injure à l’insulte, ou l’insulte à l’injure c’est à voir, il y a la nouvelle qu’une plainte d’un ancien employé de Lockheed Martin contre cette société pour sa gestion du programme JSF, d’abord déboutée par le juge, a finalement été acceptée par le même juge. Cela implique que LM et le JSF pourraient se trouver trainés devant les tribunaux… (Dans Fort Worth Star Telegram, le 15 novembre 2010.)

«Federal Judge Terry Means issued an order Monday reversing an earlier decision that dismissed a whistle-blower lawsuit against Lockheed Martin that alleged the company was not writing software for the F-35 joint strike fighter to the highest industry and government standards.

»After further review, prompted by an appeal by former Lockheed software engineer, Means ruled that his earlier decision to dismiss the case “was erroneous and would result in injustice” to Davis. The decision only applies to the portion of the lawsuit where Davis questions the legality of Lockheed billing the government for work on the F-35 that did not meet quality and safety requirements…»

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