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 Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.