1st Class Isaac Berwick launches an F-35B Lightning II aboard the USS Essex (LHD 2) in preparation for the F-35B's first combat strike, Sept. 27, 2018. US Navy
Paul Szoldra, Business Insider/Task & Purpose: The F-35's combat debut in Afghanistan was a terrible waste of taxpayer money
* The F-35B made its combat debut in Afghanistan on Thursday, dropping more than $40,000 worth of bombs on a mined weapons cache that ground forces were unable to clear.
* For a target as insignificant as this, a Predator drone would've done just fine, or perhaps it could've been punted to an Afghan Air Force pilot.
* So why the hell is a super-expensive, fifth-generation, stealth-with-all-the-bells-and-whistles aircraft being used to drop bombs presumably on a bunch of AK-47's and RPGs?
I got a little bit more out of the military public affairs types on the recent "combat debut" of the F-35B in Afghanistan, and it turns out the $115 million stealth aircraft was used to obliterate a static cache of enemy weaponry.
Now, I originally intended to use this column to criticize the U.S. Marine Corps for putting together what appeared to be a big, taxpayer-funded PR stunt. Indeed, my inbox was inundated with press releases, photos, and video from the strike that the service clearly wanted (and subsequently got) covered in the media.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Using an F-35B to drop $40,000 worth of bombs to destroy a mined weapons cache that anyone else could have done .... so yes .... this was a terrible waste of money that was just done to make the boast that the F-35B is now combat ready.
