The F-35 is one of those programs that completely boggles the mind. It's government abomination at its worst. Let's put a few numbers in perspective: SpaceX operated for 10 years with approx. $1 billion USD total. It designed space craft that flew to space. The budget for F-35 is exceeding $400 billion and it's not even close to completion. This is 400x more! And when I say "budget", if you live in the US currently, "budget" means "comes from your pocket". I don't have a better word for this than flat-out INSANITY.
The entire way the U.S. military does procurement is wrong. It's based on politics, not merit. If there was one area of government Silicon Valley should disrupt it's this.
Boeing / Lockheed / etc have no special insight that should make them a preferred no-bid contractor. They just hire engineers like everyone else. Procurement for any new tech should be outsourced based on a type of hybrid elimination / round robin tournament between companies. If a company develops some standout tech on their own, but falls short in other areas, then they should make a law that other companies in the tournament should be able to license that tech.
Has research into F-35 tech produced any externalities in the civilian sector? At this rate I'm thinking of calling the project "basic research" and call it a day.
Are we just posting anti f35 stuff now? It seems a bit tired and forced at this point, no matter your opinion. To me, it just seems like recursive subcontractor issues.