The Air Force’s F-35s need a number of modifications before they are combat ready, but the biggest problem the Joint Strike Fighter program is having is finding ways to get the aircraft modified while still training enough pilots to be ready once initial operational capability is declared, the F-35 program office’s executive officer said Sept. 9. By 2019, there will be 493 F-35s out in the field, and every single one of them will need modifications, said Lt. G?en. Christopher Bogdan. Still, the biggest constraint, other than the enormous cost, is the time it takes for the aircraft to get the needed updates, he said. Speaking at the ComDef conference in Washington, D.C., Bogdan said the F-35 program has moved beyond “slow and steady progress” and is now “rapidly accelerating and growing” as it approaches a “pivot point” between the big development phase and the follow-on development program. The Air Force is slated to declare IOC by Aug. 1, 2016, Bodgan said.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
