Did anyone think that dropping the alternate Joint Strike Fighter engine would be easy? The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to meet next week with international partners in the JSF program and, in a separate hearing, with the deputy secretary of defense and the two engine makers—Pratt Whitney, the original F-35 engine producer, and GE-Rolls Royce, the alternate engine team. Lawmakers in both houses have signaled their concern. Even the top Air Force civilian, who believes there is little technical risk, worries about having only one industrial source.
The U.S. continued to move a significant amount of airpower toward the Middle East in recent days as talks to forge a nuclear deal with Iran hung in the balance. Flight tracking data indicate there was unusually heavy movement of dozens of fighter jets and other assets that might be…
