Joint Strike Fighter Program May See Cuts to Pay for Backup Engine

Posted on: Aug. 21st, 2006 || Source: govexec.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program might be cut by as many as 100 aircraft if the Pentagon is forced to restore a backup engine made by General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce Group Plc, according to the Air Force general who manages the program.

"If the money comes out of JSF, we'll trade airplanes to pay for it,'' Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles Davis told Bloomberg News in an interview this week. "That's our only source of dollars."

Davis said the number of fighters may be lowered by 50 to 100, out of about 2,500, to pay for a second engine. The House and Senate fiscal 2007 Defense appropriations bills would restore the F-136 backup engine -- which the Pentagon wanted to terminate to save about $1.8 billion through 2011.

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