Although flight testing on the F-35 strike fighter ramped up “significantly” in Fiscal 2010, the F-35 program’s overall progress continues to lag, said Michael Sullivan, director of acquisition and sourcing management at the Government Accountability Office. “Software development—essential for achieving about 80 percent of [F-35] functionality—is significantly behind schedule as [the program] enters its most challenging phase,” Sullivan told members of the House Armed Services Committee’s tactical air and land forces panel Tuesday. Further, only four percent of the F-35’s capabilities have been fully verified through flight tests and/or lab results, he said. Sullivan characterized the Pentagon’s F-35 restructure as “positive, substantial actions that should lead to more achievable and predictable outcomes.” However, as a result, the aircraft’s development “is now estimated at $56.4 billion to complete in 2018, a 26 percent cost increase and a five-year schedule slip,” he said. (Sullivan’s prepared remarks)
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.