The Inspector wrote:
See F-15
See F100-PW-100/Compressor Stall/Repeated "fixes"
See LRUs that failed after less than 3 flight hours
See Fatigue Cracking in the Center Wing Box after less than 100 hours of operation in the first 3 blocks of A models
See Aerodynamic issues that resulted in the dog-tooth, lengthened speed brake, and then stiffener when the bigger brake failed multiple times under light loading
Quote:
See F-16
See multiple LRU and FCS failures during development including at least 2 PIO incidents that damaged test aircraft.
See AESA radar abject failure and delayed availability of all modes of operation due to "self jamming" (aka electronic interference)
Oh and BTW, the C-130 hasn't been "trouble free" either. It had cost overruns nearly as large (percentage wise) as the C-5 program, the original props had a habit of flying off, the spine of the A and B models failed several times just aft of the forward cargo door hatch due to a failure to properly reinforce the carry-over structure (which is why that door was removed in the C and subsequent models), The wing boxes were (and still are) a continual area of problems and only multiple re-winging of the aircraft and severe restrictions on fuel distribution when doing operations other than "airline" style flights has prevented more wings from departing inflight.
You want to know what the least troublesome system entry into the DoD inventory has been since the 1950s (by DoD and GAO accounts)? The B-1B. 100 airframes delivered ahead of time and under budget, IOC early, fully deployment on time, and it had a better nuclear alert readiness than the B-52 ever had. But even then, that was after so many of the problems were worked out PRIOR to the program via the B-1A and the flying that North American did on their own dime.