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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program at a crossroads
March 16, 2005 (by
Lieven Dewitte) -
According to the US Government Accountability Office, the Joint Strike Fighter project will hit a budget overrun of around USD 20 billion even before the first plane is put into service but the good new is that the first test versions of the F-35 will be assembled in May this year.
Costs of F-35 program rising
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is at a crossroads, the Government Accountability Office said yesterday, calling the original projectplan "unexecutable."
The fighter, designed to be a low-cost replacement to the F-16 Fighting Falcon, is now expected to cost $244.8 billion to produce a planned 2,400 planes.
Development will cost $44.8 billion, including a $10 billion increase identified last year, the report said.
Nearly half the increase, $4.9 billion, was needed to lower the aircraft's weight because being heavier hurt "the aircraft's key performance capabilities," the report said. The Pentagon said more money was also needed to add anti-tampering technology to keep sensitive technology safe.
Spending on the program will eventually increase to $1 billion a month from $100 million a month as the Defense Department invests in tools, facilities and workers, according to the report. The final design of the fighter should be set before the Pentagon makes those investments so that costly changes will not have to be made later, a GAO official said.
"While delays are never welcomed, time taken by DOD now to gain more knowledge and reduce risk before increasing its investment may well save time and money later," the report said. "Now is the time to get the strategy right." It also said the strike fighter will have to compete with other expensive programs for "scarce funding."
The Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter office said it has already addressed the concerns raised in the report. The latest plan for the program, which includes delaying the first aircraft delivery one year until 2009, "reflects an acquisition strategy with the most appropriate balance of technical, cost, and schedule risks to meet program objectives," the office said in a written statement.
F-35 about to leap from paper to reality
After overcoming the weight problems which haunted the "jump jet" variant of the F-35 last year, the joint strike fighter is preparing for its most difficult challenge. In May the first test versions will be assembled after years of computer simulation.
The Northrop Grumman-built center fuselage and the BAE Systems-built aft- fuselage and tails will be joined with the Lockheed Martin-built wing and forward fuselage. Assembly of the initial F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant is expected to be completed at the end of the year.
The assembly represents another "sweaty-palm" moment as everybody nervously watches the creation of the plane.
The so-called "mating" of different sections of the fuselage is, in the words of Lockheed Martin, the "next big thing" for the JSF program.
Several of the nine international partners in the JSF project continue to sweat on delays which slow the overall program because they cannot afford production slippages to delay the planned arrival of the plane.
The RAAF for example needs the F-35s in the sky from 2012 to offset the planned retirement of the ageing F-111 strike bombers from 2010. Any delays risk a gap in Australia's air combat capability and a political embarrassment. To boost the country's air defence during the phase-in of the F-35s, the Australian Government has also approved the purchase of long-range cruise missiles to be placed on the RAAF's 71 F/A-18 fighters.
Lockheed says that the earlier hiccups with the program are now history and that in every main facet of planning the F-35 program is on track and on target.
Lockheed will construct 15 flying test planes and eight ground test planes, with the F-35 taking its maiden test flight in August next year.
Lockheed still estimates that the per plane "fly-away" cost of the F-35 will be in the predicted range of $45-$55 million in 2003 dollars.
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is at a crossroads, the Government Accountability Office said yesterday, calling the original projectplan "unexecutable."
The fighter, designed to be a low-cost replacement to the F-16 Fighting Falcon, is now expected to cost $244.8 billion to produce a planned 2,400 planes.
Development will cost $44.8 billion, including a $10 billion increase identified last year, the report said.
Nearly half the increase, $4.9 billion, was needed to lower the aircraft's weight because being heavier hurt "the aircraft's key performance capabilities," the report said. The Pentagon said more money was also needed to add anti-tampering technology to keep sensitive technology safe.
Spending on the program will eventually increase to $1 billion a month from $100 million a month as the Defense Department invests in tools, facilities and workers, according to the report. The final design of the fighter should be set before the Pentagon makes those investments so that costly changes will not have to be made later, a GAO official said.
"While delays are never welcomed, time taken by DOD now to gain more knowledge and reduce risk before increasing its investment may well save time and money later," the report said. "Now is the time to get the strategy right." It also said the strike fighter will have to compete with other expensive programs for "scarce funding."
The Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter office said it has already addressed the concerns raised in the report. The latest plan for the program, which includes delaying the first aircraft delivery one year until 2009, "reflects an acquisition strategy with the most appropriate balance of technical, cost, and schedule risks to meet program objectives," the office said in a written statement.
F-35 about to leap from paper to reality
After overcoming the weight problems which haunted the "jump jet" variant of the F-35 last year, the joint strike fighter is preparing for its most difficult challenge. In May the first test versions will be assembled after years of computer simulation.
The Northrop Grumman-built center fuselage and the BAE Systems-built aft- fuselage and tails will be joined with the Lockheed Martin-built wing and forward fuselage. Assembly of the initial F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant is expected to be completed at the end of the year.
The assembly represents another "sweaty-palm" moment as everybody nervously watches the creation of the plane.
The so-called "mating" of different sections of the fuselage is, in the words of Lockheed Martin, the "next big thing" for the JSF program.
Several of the nine international partners in the JSF project continue to sweat on delays which slow the overall program because they cannot afford production slippages to delay the planned arrival of the plane.
The RAAF for example needs the F-35s in the sky from 2012 to offset the planned retirement of the ageing F-111 strike bombers from 2010. Any delays risk a gap in Australia's air combat capability and a political embarrassment. To boost the country's air defence during the phase-in of the F-35s, the Australian Government has also approved the purchase of long-range cruise missiles to be placed on the RAAF's 71 F/A-18 fighters.
Lockheed says that the earlier hiccups with the program are now history and that in every main facet of planning the F-35 program is on track and on target.
Lockheed will construct 15 flying test planes and eight ground test planes, with the F-35 taking its maiden test flight in August next year.
Lockheed still estimates that the per plane "fly-away" cost of the F-35 will be in the predicted range of $45-$55 million in 2003 dollars.
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- F-35 Team on track for final-assembly start in late spring ( 2005-02-16)
- F-35 Lightning II news archive
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