Former Acting US Secretary of Defense (November 9, 2020 to January 20) Christopher Miller, during a press conference on January 14, called the American fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter “a piece …”, writes Popular Mechanics, citing to the corresponding transcript of the official’s speech.
The magazine notes that the acting defense minister did not complete his remarks. The publication invited its readers to independently guess what Miller meant.
Popular Mechanics writes that “The United States and its allies [are] on the hook, not only because of the purchase of the F-35 at a price of 110 to 117 million dollars per plane, but also because of the exorbitant cost of its flight hour of about $ 44,000, fees for upgrading old aircraft, fixing many of the aircraft’s shortcomings, paying bills for future upgrades and developing the sixth generation fighter. “
“Of course, Miller is glad that he no longer has to worry about the F-35,” the newspaper concludes, recalling that Miller’s term ended after Joe Biden became the 46th US President on January 20.
In January, Honored Test Pilot of Russia Magomed Tolboyev announced that the Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighter would defeat the American F-35 Lightning II in one-on-one air combat.
In October 2020, the C4ISRNET publication reported that the F-35 Lightning II of the US Marine Corps (ILC), thanks to integration into the tactical network, can be used to target high-precision weapons.