According to InsideDefense.com, the Office of the Secretary of Defense is considering, as part of its Fiscal 2011 budget deliberations, pumping billions of extra dollars into the F-35 stealth fighter program, extending the aircraft’s development by at least one year, and delaying the purchase of 100 F-35s between now and the middle of next decade. These moves, if adopted in the Pentagon’s budget proposal that goes to Congress next February, would ostensibly vindicate the F-35 Joint Estimate Team that warned earlier this year that the F-35 program still faces lengthy delays and could require hefty funding infusions to stay on track. (InsideDefense.com requires a subscription, but offers readers a limited trial run) (For more on this issue, read The F-35 Dice Roll the December editorial by Air Force Magazine Editor in Chief Robert Dudney.)
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.