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.