The F-35 program goes before the Defense Acquisition Board—chaired by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young—on March 26. At that time, he’ll decide if the program is ready to start on the second batch of low rate initial production. It would seem likely Young will OK the start, based on his remarks at a House Armed Services Committee tactical aviation panel hearing March 11. Although he acknowledged that prime contractor Lockheed Martin has not hit some of its schedule marks, Young noted that Pentagon and Congressional cuts of more than $1 billion have made “a real impact” on the program’s ability to keep on schedule. In fact, Young said, the F-35 is “a well-managed, well-run program that is working to deliver cutting-edge fighter capability.”
The U.S. military is doubling down on non-space-based alternatives to GPS, the ubiquitous position, navigation, and timing service provided by the U.S. Space Force, with new funding for the development and testing of operational prototypes of quantum-based devices that don’t depend on easily jammable signals from satellites.
