It is no secret that the Marine Corps short takeoff and landing version of the F-35 has been hampered with weight issues—but those have been solved (see “Struggling for Altitude” in our September issue)—but the STOVL version cost more. And, reports Richard Whittle in Christian Science Monitor, it is raising the cost of the entire program and causing continued consternation over just how many aircraft the US military will buy. The Air Force, which once said it would purchase at least a couple hundred STOVL F-35s, now probably won’t buy any, instead spending its scarce dollars on revamping the A-10.
After years of describing to lawmakers and Pentagon leaders the nature of that threat and the key role spacepower plays in deterring conflict in the domain and enabling the rest of the joint force, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told reporters during AFA’s Warfare Symposium here that the message appears to…