Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says there will be “adjustments in dollars” and “adjustments in schedule” for the F-35 strike fighter program, reports Reuters news service. Defense officials are now acknowledging that the program is in trouble, a bow to the assessment by the Joint Estimating Team, and, as Donley told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington this week, “there will be pushing and pulling” of the numbers of fighters produced each year through 2014. Still, the top USAF official said there are no plans to cut the overall buy. Congress was set on Dec. 16 to hold a public hearing on the F-35 troubles, but opted instead to go behind closed doors because of “proprietary information expected to be discussed,” according to a notice on the Senate Armed Services Committee Web site.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.