When pressed, DoD says it could build F-35 without UK

Posted on: Mar. 17th, 2006 || Source: aimpoints.hq.af.mil | E-mail Article | Print Article

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Defense Department's chief weapons buyer said Thursday that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program could continue without its international partners, if current disputes over export controls and engine makers escalated to a point of no return.

Ken Krieg, the Pentagon's undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said such a showdown was hardly imminent. "I don't think we're at that stage," Krieg said at a House Armed Services Committee panel hearing.

But when pressed, Krieg acknowledged that continuing the program without the U.K. was possible. Britain is the lead partner on the $256 billion program headed by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT).

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