Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Bob's avatar

In spring 2020, officials banned the F-35A from flying within 25 nautical miles of lightning or thunderstorms after finding that a crucial system may not function correctly if hit by a bolt. At issue is the Onboard Inert Gas Generation System, or OBIGGS, which injects nitrogen-enriched air into the jet's fuel tanks.

Expand full comment
Bill Astore's avatar

There's a delicious irony here, Andrew. In "Augustine's Laws," a damn good satire of military contracting practices, Norman Augustine wrote about the powerful advantages of complex software to profit:

"Software is like entropy. It is difficult to grasp, weighs nothing, and obeys the second law of thermodynamics; i.e. it always increases."

Always increases, indeed! And so do profits (and control) for the F-35 and L/M. The F-35 is like every bad practice in "Augustine's Laws" coming true.

I thought it was a satire, Norm, not a user's manual! :-)

Expand full comment
4 more comments...

No posts