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F-35 Reaches
Critical Juncture After Strong Year, Official Says By Tyrone C. Marshall |
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The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program the
centerpiece of future tactical aviation and a key to
implementing new military strategic guidance made strong
progress in its development last year, a defense
official said.
Frank Kendall, the acting undersecretary of defense for
acquisition, technology and logistics, told the House
Armed Services Committee that the fighter aircraft is
essential to the Defense Department and that it made
"strong progress" in 2011.
"Last fall, the department engaged in a strategy and
budget review where everything -- and I do mean
everything -- was on the table," Kendall said. "After a
careful look at the joint strike fighter program, the
department determined that we do need the JSF (and) that
we need all three variants of the fighter, and that we
need the planned inventory of 2,443 jets." That said, Kendall added, "you must recognize there is still a long way to go for JSF." The F-35 flight test program is only about 20 percent complete and "many of the more challenging elements of flight test are still ahead of us," he said. |
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An F-35 Lightning II flies over Destin, Fla., before
landing at at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., July 14, 2011.
According to Defense Department officials, the F-35
development has reached a crucial point in the
conversion from conceptualization to actual production. |
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Kendall
said the F-35 development has reached a crucial point in the
conversion from conceptualization to actual production. "The JSF
program is undergoing the critical transition from development
to production," he said. "Historically, this is always a
difficult phase for any program, but particularly so for a
high-performance aircraft."
That
transition has been even more difficult for the F-35, Kendall
said, because the program began production very early, well
before flight testing had begun. That decision for early
production resulted in an unprecedented level of concurrency,
which drove the need for significant changes in the program, he
said.
"With this
year's budget, I believe we are now set on a course for program
stability," Kendall added. Navy Vice Adm. David Venlet, the
program manager for the F-35, also said the program now is on
track.
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