By
Theresa Hitchens on May 13, 2021 at 5:15 PM
WASHINGTON: The F-35 Joint Program Office is still evaluating when the fighter will formally clear its 20-year development phase after a new expert study of testing requirements, says JPO Director Lt. Gen. Eric Fick.
However, officially passing through ‘milestone C’ into full-rate production may not matter that much, Fick told the annual McAleese defense conference today.
It will do little to change either how fast planes are already being built or how deeply involved the JPO and acquisition leaders at DoD and the services will remain in managing the sprawling, $400 billion procurement effort.
Russia and China Would Love to See the F-35 Fail. But It Won t.
Despite its critics and foreign adversaries who would want otherwise, the F-35 stealth fighter jet program is and should be here to stay.
In the last few months, a torrent of scorn has been heaped upon the F-35 stealth fighter jet program, seemingly just in time for the fiscal year 2022 defense budget cycle.
The timing, volume, and the sameness of the talking points from the F-35 jet’s opponents is enough to make you wonder where it’s all coming. Not from F-35 pilots certainly, who overwhelmingly favor the aircraft over their previous jets.