Production quantities for the F-35 strike fighter will not be cut, despite speculation to the contrary, said Vice Adm. David Venlet, F-35 program executive officer, Tuesday. Even though some 240 aircraft have been moved out of the production schedule from Fiscal 2012 to Fiscal 2016 and deferred to later years, production quantities remain at 1,763 for the Air Force, 680 for the Navy/Marine Corps, and an estimated 3,100 for foreign partners, said Venlet during his National Aeronautics Association address in Arlington, Va. For Fiscal 2011 and Fiscal 2012, production will be 32 F-35s per year. He said international partners have been apprised of changes and the increased cost of about $4 million per aircraft. The partners will decide whether to stick with the program, but Venlet said he senses they will remain with it. (For background, see DOD’s F-35 fact sheet issued in January)
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.