Pursuing Agent Orange: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s Pacific region tour included a stopover in Vietnam, where among other topics, he talked about the possibility of sharing data compiled by the US military about the health effects of Agent Orange. This was the defoliation chemical sprayed by US aircrews during the Vietnam War and that was later found to be a cause for some forms of cancer. (Read our 2000 article for background on Operation Ranch Hand.)
Contracts for F-35 airframes in Lot 18 and 19 should be signed in the spring, but an engine deal is still not in hand and could take months longer. The delays don't seem to be driven by anticipation of how the new Trump administration will influence the program.