multi-purpose fighter of the fifth generation F-35A Lightning II us air force crashed during landing. The accident occurred on a military base “Eglin”, where a few days ago crashed the other modern aircraft of the US air force – F-22. Experts claim that the frequent crash testify to the crisis of the system of material and technical equipment of the armed forces of the United States. Why beat the most advanced development of the American military and is it a weakness of the American army, experts told the “MK”.
the accident at the U.S. air force “Eglin” in Florida occurred at 21:30 local time on 19 may. When landing crashed the most modern aircraft in a part of the U.S. air force – F-35A Lightning II from the composition of the 58th fighter squadron. According to the command base, the pilot managed to eject. The incident conducted an internal investigation.
the Crash of the F-35 was the second emergency incident at the airbase “Eglin” for the last time. May 16 crashed based in “Agline” multi-purpose fighter F-22. Both of the crashed plane belongs to the advanced, the most modern fifth-generation aircraft. The cost of one aircraft of the fifth generation, taking into account the cost of development and operation – hundreds of millions of dollars, but these amounts the Pentagon is not enough to maintain the most modern developments in good condition.
As told to “MK” military expert Alexei Leonov, problems with the operation of military equipment are present not only in the United States air force, but also in other branches of the us armed forces. Their main reason is created by the Pentagon system repair and maintenance, which has proved ineffective. Opinion about the situation in the U.S. air force expert shared with “MK”.
-This is not the first case of the crash of the F-35?
-This case is not the first. The most famous story associated with the F-35 happened in Japan when the ocean fell fighter of the Japanese air self-defense forces. The wreckage of the plane then long searched, so they do not fall into the hands of China.
What are the problems with the F-35, not so long ago in the United States, a Commission was established under the leadership of President Donald trump, who estimated the project F-35. The result of the work of the Commission has been able to find over 800 various deficiencies in the aircraft structure. The Pentagon has demanded from the developer of a fighter – the company “Lockheed Martin” to remedy these defects and also reduce the procurement cost of the F-35 for the U.S. air force.
-And what is the cause of frequent accidents involving modern technology?
-This problem manifested itself a long time ago. The fact that the majority of works on repair and maintenance of equipment in the US air force gave for outsourcing. The first who faced the problem in the operation of the equipment after such repairs is the helicopter. Vertolety in the middle East after repairs suffered accidents which even led to the death of the pilots. The command of the marine corps was forced to leave the helicopter after repairs at the sites as long as the pilots can determine their serviceability and suitability for use.
the F-22 and F-35 – very difficult to maintain technique. Difficult for many reasons. The F-22 maintenance takes place in special clothing, which will not damage his very expensive radar absorbing coating that provides invisibility. When the F-35 began to roll off the production line, they began to enter the army half-finished, they bring to mind military units. Lapping was with the participation of experts from the outsourcing and representatives of the manufacturer “Lockheed Martin”. But in this guardianship to a technical fault on this aircraft occur regularly.
-And this leads to accidents and disasters?
the Disaster is the tip of the iceberg. From the time Obama pointed out the problems of this system of outsourcing. The white house has put at the forefront expensive miracle weapon within the strategy of a global impact. And the fact that conventional weapons require attention to operate and repair, they forgot. This leads to an overall decline in the combat readiness of the military equipment of the U.S. army.
What next?
-Accident, as well as numerous emergency situations will follow the US army for a long time. While maintenance of equipment will be at the mercy of the lobbyists for private firms. The struggle against this system led to the fact that the last Minister of defence of the USA James Mattis has resigned. He came to the government from the marine Corps and know how is the situation. But dealing with lobbyists they couldn’t do it. The current Minister mark Esper also solves this problem and even proposed to classify the Pentagon’s budget to cover expenses that are going to fight with the service. Or rather – to hide the current weakness of the US army in this field.
