By Carlo Munoz
The future of the Marine Corps version of the Joint Strike Fighter will not be judged against a checklist of hard milestones, but rather by a loose-knit series of requirements- -ranging from the aircraft’s weight to propulsion ratios to its ability to operate in a maritime environment, according to a senior program official.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates suspended the F-35B, built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT] and designed to replace the AV-8B Harrier, in January. The move, which put the program in a two-year probationary period, was necessary to allow program officials time to get the program “back on track,” Gates said at the time.
If cost, development and schedule overruns could not be rectified in that two-year time frame, DoD would cancel the program.
Since then, program officials have begun restructuring the program to hit four key goals for the F-35B, JSF Program Executive Officer Vice Adm. Dave Venlet said yesterday. Those four goals include maintaining propulsion levels while reducing aircraft weight, ensuring the aircraft’s ability to gain full flight clearance, proving the fighter’s suitability for ship operations and hitting the program’s key performance parameters, Venlet said during a National Aeronautical Association luncheon in Arlington, Va.
Despite establishing those key goals, the program office has not taken any additional steps to refine the criteria on those key goals, or established any further metrics on what needs to be done to save the F-35B from cancellation, he said.
“There is no black and white checklist” to weigh the program’s performance against, Venlet said, noting that the incredible scrutiny being placed on the program by DoD and the services will ensure the program’s meets those key goals. Aside from the Marine Corps version, Lockheed Martin is building two other variants of the F-35 for the Air Force and Navy, as well as for several foreign militaries. The A model, to be flown by the Air Force, takes off and lands conventionally while the Navy version will be flown from carriers by Navy fighter pilots.
The Pentagon requested roughly $9.7 billion for testing, development and acquisition of all three variants of the fighter in its fiscal year 2012 budget request released on Monday. DoD officials also extended the F-35 flight test program by three years and added about 1,500 flights for a total of 7,500 earlier this month.
Test flights are now expected to conclude by 2016 rather than 2013, with the Air Force and Navy models set to complete tests by in the first quarter of that year, and the Marine Corps version wrapping up tests by the fourth quarter, Venlet said.
That restructured schedule was the result of DoD and service program officials “building a plan with realism in it,” he said, adding “I do have confidence in this plan.”