
The United Kingdom is looking for ways to drive down the cost of operating and sustaining its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet now that the program is transitioning from its initial development phase to significant production quantities, a UK defense official said March 27.“We must maintain an absolutely laser-like focus on keeping those costs down,” said Stephen Lovegrove, who, as the permanent secretary of the UK defense ministry, is roughly the British counterpart to U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan.…