The overall F-35 program saw a $1.8 billion increase in development costs because a once-deleted capability has been added back in by the services, program director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan reported. The “Band 25” electronic warfare capability was cut out when the program hit its Nunn-McCurdy cost overruns circa 2011, but the services have restored it. The change will be cut into production starting in Lot 10, when apertures and conformal antennas will be built onto jets coming off the production line, to avoid physical rework later. The software to create the new capability will come in the Block IV first upgrade for the fleet, Bogdan explained. “The threat is driving the requirement,” he told reporters at a Pentagon press conference.
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
