Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Bloomberg.com
October 21, 2008
By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
Support for continuing the Lockheed Martin Corp. Joint Strike Fighter program remains ``very strong'' within Congress and the U.S. military, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
``I think the support is very strong on the Hill and in this building,'' Gates said in an interview today with Bloomberg News and two other news organizations.
The $298 billion F-35 program is the Pentagon's most expensive, spurring defense analysts to cite it as a potential target for budget cuts. Gates's statement today was his strongest backing for the program.
Asked if the program is still affordable, Gates was optimistic.
``It's the plane we are looking at in terms of having fairly significant numbers of -- it's a little over half of the cost of an F-22'' fighter, which is also produced by Lockheed Martin and, Gates noted, will have ``a lot of the same capability.''
``There's a pretty large sunk cost already,'' Gates said of the roughly $37 billion Congress has approved through fiscal 2008. ``I think there is just no question we have to replace our fighter fleet. There is just no two ways about it.''
The Pentagon wants to build as many as 2,456 fighters to replace F-16s, A-10s and AV-8B Harrier aircraft. The U.K. is the top international partner on the program.
The first of the three F-35 variants to achieve initial operations will be the Marine Corps short-take and vertical landing version in 2012. The first Air Force version is to be ready by March 2013 and the Navy model by March 2015.
The plane's 12-year development effort is entering its most challenging phase. This includes starting test flights, proving out millions of lines of software code, finishing design of the three different models and refining manufacturing processes.
October 21, 2008
By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
Support for continuing the Lockheed Martin Corp. Joint Strike Fighter program remains ``very strong'' within Congress and the U.S. military, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
``I think the support is very strong on the Hill and in this building,'' Gates said in an interview today with Bloomberg News and two other news organizations.
The $298 billion F-35 program is the Pentagon's most expensive, spurring defense analysts to cite it as a potential target for budget cuts. Gates's statement today was his strongest backing for the program.
Asked if the program is still affordable, Gates was optimistic.
``It's the plane we are looking at in terms of having fairly significant numbers of -- it's a little over half of the cost of an F-22'' fighter, which is also produced by Lockheed Martin and, Gates noted, will have ``a lot of the same capability.''
``There's a pretty large sunk cost already,'' Gates said of the roughly $37 billion Congress has approved through fiscal 2008. ``I think there is just no question we have to replace our fighter fleet. There is just no two ways about it.''
The Pentagon wants to build as many as 2,456 fighters to replace F-16s, A-10s and AV-8B Harrier aircraft. The U.K. is the top international partner on the program.
The first of the three F-35 variants to achieve initial operations will be the Marine Corps short-take and vertical landing version in 2012. The first Air Force version is to be ready by March 2013 and the Navy model by March 2015.
The plane's 12-year development effort is entering its most challenging phase. This includes starting test flights, proving out millions of lines of software code, finishing design of the three different models and refining manufacturing processes.