America's F-35: Coming In for a "Crash Landing"?

America's F-35: Coming In for a "Crash Landing"?

09/23/14

Kevin Boyd

State of the Military, United States

From the outset, the F-35 was designed as a fighter that would be all things to all branches of the military. It's time to cancel it. 

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is slated to enter service for the U.S. military next year, with the Marine Corps shooting to achieve initial operational capability (IOC) for its first F-35B squadron by August 2015. This would be the first time the F-35 has achieved IOC status with any branch of the armed forces and comes three years after it was supposed to enter service. The purpose of the F-35 was to provide a fifth-generation airplane that could outfit the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy to deal with any potential adversary.

In the meantime, the F-35 has been plagued with numerous cost overruns and delays. The development cost initially was expected to be $306 billion, but has jumped to $390 billion thus far. Software development and even overall build quality have been poor. An investigation into engine problems that grounded the F-35 fleet this summer is near completion. It also likely does not have the performance characteristics to be suitable for service as a fighter.

The continued delays and problems are costing taxpayers billions and are even harming military readiness, as the F-35 consumes a significant portion of the Pentagon's procurement budget. Some international partners the United States had counted on to buy the fighter are reconsidering their participation in the project, citing high costs.

It’s time to cancel, or at the very least drastically scale down, the F-35 project and shift the funds to deal with the strategic realities America faces.

Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/americas-f-35-coming-crash-landing-11332