President Donald Trump has tapped Navy Rear Adm. Mathias “Mat” Winter to be the next director of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the Department of Defense announced March 28.
Winter would replace Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, who has been the F-35 Lightning II’s program executive officer since December 2012. Bogdan is retiring.
Winter, who has served as the F-35’s deputy program executive officer since December, will be promoted to vice admiral if confirmed by the Senate. Before joining the F-35 program, Winter was the Navy’s chief of naval research. He also has served as the Navy’s program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons.
Winter’s nomination comes at a critical time for the program. Trump has threatened to cut DoD’s F-35 purchase if prime contractor, Lockheed Martin [LMT], does not lower the cost of the stealthy fighter jet. In addition, the Navy’s F-35C carrier variant is slated to achieve an initial operational capability (IOC) between August 2018 and February 2019, according to F-35 joint program office spokesman Joe Dellavedova. This would make the F-35C the third and final variant to reach that milestone.
Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute think tank, said Winter’s promotion is a signal that the program is in pretty good shape as Winter probably knows the program better than anyone, other than Bogdan. Thomson also believes it might be a good to have a Navy aviator in charge of the F-35 program as it is due to declare IOC.