re: #314 ProLifeLiberal

To a point, but a massive number of parts on that things are interchangeable between the Su-27 Class and T-50.

You can see it in the cost, where it is half that of the F-35, and 1/4th that of the F-22.

Something is terribly wrong with procurement cost in this nation’s military, and government overall.

Part of the problem is exemplified in the F-35, namely a reliance on sub-contracting to make a program “axe-proof.” Companies now take entire systems or small parts and farm them out to companies spread across numerous Congressional districts, so that they can then claim that killing the main program will kill jobs in all those districts.

Problem comes when those sub-contractors can’t meet deadlines or produce sub-standard parts, leading to problems on the assembly line as parts have to be waited on or worked on just to bring them up to spec. That leads to cost overruns, quality control issues, and ballooning weight as substitutions are made.