The two Republican Senators from Ohio are protesting the Pentagon plan to curtail development of an alternate Joint Strike Fighter engine. According to the Dayton Daily News, Sen. Mike DeWine and Sen. George Voinovich wrote to Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, saying the plan will force General Electric “to exit the fighter engine arena,” leaving the Pentagon with a single source. “This is not sound business,” they wrote. British Prime Minister Tony Blair already had petitioned President Bush directly over the issue and was rebuffed. GE had teamed with Rolls Royce to produce the second F-35 engine.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.