A good read on AviationWeek

overrun puts the cost of the SDD program at $14.2 billion overall, Bogdan said. While this is above the $13.9 billion objective, set by the 2011 acquisition program baseline (APB), it is still within the threshold cost of $15.1 billion, he stressed.
[…]
Despite the delay and cost increase, Bogdan emphasized the program’s progress since a critical cost breach and subsequent re-baselining in 2010. Back then, the F-35 was six years delayed and $13.5 billion in the red.

[…]
Bogdan dismissed the CAPE’s estimate, saying it doesn’t account for the savings found during negotiations, the unused fee suppliers will not earn because they haven’t performed to the contract terms, and management reserves the JPO and Lockheed are dipping into.
“Mine is not a projection. I know exactly how much it is going to cost because I sign the checks every month,” Bogdan said. “What you have here is the case of data running amok, and data without context.”
[…]
“Let’s put that in perspective,” Bogdan said. “Anybody would’ve told us in 2011 that we would be within a few months and a couple hundred million dollars of a $13 billion re-baseline, we’d all have slapped the table and said we’d take it.”

Bogdan was adamant that the F-35’s System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase will be completed months before that deadline, by the end of February 2018.

Experts define additional MH370 search area

Initially, satellite data suggested the aircraft was in ‘constant true track’ or ‘lateral navigation’ (LNAV). These modes would have favoured the southern end of the search area, but since these areas have been searched without finding the aircraft, other control modes indicating that the aircraft is in the northern portion of the search zone are now favoured.

“During the first principles review meeting, flight crew with extensive experience on the aircraft type indicated that the aircraft is usually flown in the LNAV or CMH (constant magnetic heading) lateral control modes. This information, combined with the results from the areas already searched, increase the likelihood in the northern section of the probability map.”

In addition, drift analysis of aircraft debris that washed up on the western edge of the Indian ocean also points to a more northern search area. Overlaying this with satellite communications data helped determine the possible new search area.

Source:
FlightGlobal.com

And 40 years before that development and testing took 100 days

Northrop, Boeing/Saab and Textron have all demonstrated recently with brio that this is not something that couldn’t be done again… 😉 But I could have mentioned too the Skunk works or the UAS industry.

You are absolutely right. But maybe writing that way was much easier for the reader than explaining why another plane should have been substituted while still putting the focus on Fuel savings and revenue.

Frankly Hallow… What about the first Rafale M F1 and Typhoon Tranche 1 ? You are making more a joke about yourself day after day.

The 35 reach OP level and now the services hope to introduce new capabilities that were developed during the time frame of its development. Nothing unusual.

Rafale F2 went to F3 then F3R before the future F4 or whatever. For the first Rafale M, things are even more blunt as you know*:

Livrés entre 2000 et 2002, mis sous cocon en 2006
——-
Delivered b/w 2000 and 2002 and retired on long term storage in 2006…

When we will have early prod model put on storage around 2019-20, you might want to write another comment.

By the way, for you to have it in mind the next time you’ll contest the cost of the airplane (from today in FlightGlobal.com)

After 14 months of intense negotiations, the Pentagon moved forward on its own with the LRIP 9 contract. Under the $6.1 billion award, Lockheed will deliver 57 F-35 airframes. Including engines, the mandated pricing per aircraft amounted to $102.1 million for each F-35A, $131.6 for each F-35B and $132.2 million for each F-35C.

*Source:
http://rafalefan.e-monsite.com/pages/rafale/retrofit-des-rafale-m-f1.html
FlightGlobal.com

Well said (both post).

Ok. Why don’t you let us know your though more in details.