The jet that ate the Pentagon

The troubled and long-delayed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has come under renewed scrutiny, the U.S. Foreign Policy magazine reported Friday.

The Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and many foreign partners plan to buy thousands of the fighter-attack jets over the next two decades to replace a variety of aging aircraft, but the development schedule of the stealthy fighter has slipped five years to 2018 and the projected cost to the Pentagon for 2,457 aircraft has ballooned to $385 billion, making it by far the most expensive weapons program in history, the report said.

The Government Accountability Office reported that although Pentagon management of the program is improving, developers have only completely verified 4 percent of the F-35's capabilities, according to the magazine.

The program received another blow this week when the Senate Armed Services Committee learned that the Pentagon will likely have to spend $1 trillion over the next 50 years to operate and maintain the fleet of F-35s, it said.

Evidently reeling from sticker shock, Sen. John McCain demanded that "we at least begin considering alternatives." But is it too late to prevent the F-35 program from devouring the Pentagon's future procurement budgets?

Air Force officials themselves may now doubt the wisdom of the size of the commitment to the F-35, the magazine said. According to a recent Aviation Week story, Air Force Undersecretary Erin Conaton placed new emphasis on the importance of the Air Force's next-generation long-range bomber.

With procurement funds sure to be tight in the decade ahead, Conaton hinted that the Air Force may have to raid the F-35's future budgets in order to help pay for the new bomber, it said.

F-35 스텔스 전투기 ‘돈먹는 하마’로 전락

미국이 개발 중인 차세대 스텔스 전투기 F-35가 개발 지연으로 정밀 조사에 들어갔다고 미국의 외교전문지 포린 폴리시가 27일 보도했다.

미 해•공군과 해병대 그리고 외국 합작사는 다양한 노후 기종을 대체할 수천대의 공격용 전투기를 구매할 계획이지만 스텔스 전투기 개발 일정은 2018년으로 5년이 지연됐고 구매비용은 3,850억 달러로 펜타곤 사상 최대 규모의 무기 구매라고 이 보도는 전했다.

Government Accountability Office는 펜타곤의 F-35 개발 계획에 관한 관리가 향상되고 있지만 개발 담당자들은 F-35의 성능 중 4 퍼센트 만을 완전히 검증했다고 보고했다.

미 상원 군사위에서 향후 50년간 F-35의 운영•보수 등 비용이 1조 달러(약 1,083조원)를 넘어설 것이라고 알려지자 이 개발 계획은 또 다른 타격을 입었다고 이 잡지는 전했다.