Noting that Congress has reduced funding for the F-35 program, Adm. Michael Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations, told reporters in St. Louis Tuesday at the rollout of the Navy’s EA-18G Growler jamming aircraft, said he has not yet started working on “contingency planning” on how to bridge a gap between F/A-18E/F Super Hornet production and F-35 production. Mullen prefers to wait until the House-Senate conference reports out to start worrying, but he said he hopes the JSF is restored. “The JSF is a critical program,” Mullen said. “We need its stealth, range, and payload.” He acknowledged that being on the verge of low-rate production, the F-35 is at a “critical point … but we will support it.”
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
