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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by jetrink on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @02:54PM (#26254818)
> Now, read about Skunkworks - they were able to build the SR71 (without supercomputers) in less than half that time and for a fraction of the cost.

Not to mention the F-16 itself, which the F-35 was meant to replace:

1972: RFP for prototypes

1974: Maiden flight of the first prototype

1975: Production begins

1980: The aircraft officially enters service

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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by coldcode on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @04:10PM (#26255992)
The F16 was designed and built originally by General Dynamics, Lockheed bought it much later. I worked on it early in my career at GD.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by kilroy123 on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @04:21PM (#26256170)
Any interesting stories you can share from that time? I'd love to hear more.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by hef19898 on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @02:56PM (#26254867)
The F-117 as well. A marvelous plane, and development program.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by protomyth on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @06:04PM (#26257392)
1981: Used by Israel to blow up Iraq nuclear reactor

Oddly, they used F-15s to provide escort. This attack took place after two Phantom F-4-E of Iran missed.

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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by greedo on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @09:15PM (#26258925)
Why "Oddly?" The F-15 was the best air supremacy fighter of that era; perfect for escorting bomb-laden F-16s that would have had a difficult time protecting themselves.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by protomyth on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @09:21PM (#26258964)
There F-15s were better attack planes at the time. They hadn't really had the F-16 that long.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by greedo on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @09:59PM (#26259178)
The F-15As were not better attack planes in 1981; the Israelis used them exclusively in air supremacy roles until 1985 when they bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunis. Israel had just received their F16As, but were well trained at Holloman AFB.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by whalesalad on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @03:06PM (#26255023)
Lockheed is synonymous with Skunk Works ... the F-35 was a Lockheed project. I can guarantee a lot of the engineers who worked on those legendary aircraft also participated in the JSF.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by jeffreyrogers on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @05:28PM (#26257008)
Organizations change. I heard recently at Skunk Works the engineers were told by some bureaucrats that they couldn't change the skunk logo (they had a modified version for some project). It's like how Boeing used to be a great engineering organization and now isn't.

The sad thing is when a downturn happens those bureaucrats saying you can't change the logo will probably keep their jobs while the engineers who could probably be making pretty cool stuff if they had better leadership will be out of work.

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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by labcomputer on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @04:48PM (#26256503)
F-16 was a joint Northrop and General Dynamics project. Manufacturing rights were only sold to Lockheed in the 90's.
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Re:The U.S. Air Force just admitted the F-35 stealth fighter... by p_l on Sunday February 28, 2021 @07:21PM (#26298421)
A critical part of F-35 problems was developed so far away from Skunkworks it is technically a separate company (still part of the wider Lockheed-Marting Concern) - the Lockheed-Marting Global Training & Logistics.

Having encountered the quality (hahahah ... sob) they produce personally, I'm totally unsurprised US Navy and USMC could find funding a new fleet of space satellites cheaper than re-bribing enough senators to get ALIS (and now ODIN) contract reassigned to someone competent.

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