Pentagon misreports or ignores long-term weapons costs

By R. Jeffrey Smith

Reports to congress ignore or omit long-term weapons costs

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… r programs — including the Air Force’s controversial and trouble-prone F-35 fighter jet program, the Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a …"

"… een its underreporting in 2010 of the projected costs of keeping aloft the F-35, the troubled, budget-busting fighter jet that is now projected to be the …"

"… Air Force's production of the F35 and to kill a Marine Corps version, the F-35B (the Obama administration decided not to take the latter advice).The Air …"

"… l lack of progress on procurement reform, Kendall said that “putting the F-35 into production years before the first test flight was acquisition malprac …"

Public overwhelmingly supports large defense spending cuts

By R. Jeffrey Smith

Young, old, Republicans, Democrats, men, women all say they favor whopping reductions in military spending.

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… vored dumping some major individual weapons programs, including the costly F-35 jet fighter, a new long-range strategic bomber, and construction of a new …"

Bouncing too much to find the enemy

By R. Jeffrey Smith

The F35 is having trouble with its high-tech helmets and structural cracks and skin repairs and tailhooks and more.

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… allies. …"

"… y.”The problem exists inside a small item at the heart of what makes the F-35 the world’s most sophisticated aircraft — if only it could be made to …"

"… ng to the Government Accountability Office’s latest annual report on the F-35’s development, “integral to the mission systems architecture.” In ot …"

"… creating an unmanageable pilot workload, and may place limitations on the [F-35’s] operational environment.”In short, if the visor doesn’t work, the …"

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Top defense oversight staffer received $1.6 million payout from Lockheed Martin

By Zach Toombs

Staffer for the Senate Armed Services committee is a veteran lobbyist for the defense industry.

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… of government watchdogs, most recently for its work on the problem-plagued F-35 and F-22 jet fighters. The Center wrote in June about the latest of those …"

"… ing $1 billion in cost overruns on four early production contracts for the F-35; it is the single most costly military program in U.S. history. A spokespe …"

F-35 deputy sees challenges ahead

By R. Jeffrey Smith and Aaron Mehta

New F-35 program deputy gives a candid assessment of flaws in the most expensive weapon in Pentagon history.

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… t to perform,” said Welsh. …"

"… hat “some of you may cringe at what I say.” Then he disclosed that the F-35’s buggy software “scares the heck out of me,” that its computer-driv …"

"… agon intends to spend over $1.5 trillion over the next thirty years on the F-35, which it considers critical to the country’s military future. It’s a …"

"… ’s director of test and evaluation over the scale and composition of the F-35 test program is no longer about substance, but about “where and when and …"

A close call for the world’s most advanced warplane?

By Douglas Birch

Fuel line leaks and a special vulnerability to lightning are the latest troubles for the Pentagon's advanced fighter jet

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… investigate the incident and the grounding over the weekend of twenty-five F-35  Joint Strike Fighter being tested at air bases in Florida and Arizon …"

"… rcraft vulnerability.” It warned that removal of these systems meant the F-35 did not meet a requirement that it be less vulnerable to damage from fires …"

"… s see-through data and symbol displays. According to the test report, the F-35’s mission is to be ready to attack targets day or night “in all weathe …"

"… fueldraulic” line, installed only in the Marine Corps’ version of the F-35 aircraft, is just one of its many technically-challenging features. I …"

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Hagel leaves the door ajar for defense policy changes

By R. Jeffrey Smith

The Secretary of Defense nominee leaves the door ajar for defense policy changes.

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… guardedly, promising to work to understand their complaint better. On the F-35 jet fighter program – the costliest weapon system in U.S. history – Ha …"

Crowd-funding our watchdog reporting

By Bill Buzenberg

Support the Center and other public interest groups by making a donation to Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… ome of the Defense Department's most troubled and costly projects like the F-35 fighter jet and the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships. We’ll look at the ex …"

Pentagon criticizes F-35 contractors but hands over the dough

By Douglas Birch and R. Jeffrey Smith

UPDATE: Early flight tests show multiple problems but the program gets new funds just before sequester.

Excerpts from this story referencing "F-35":

"… m:  Early returns are in from the first major flight tests of the new F-35 jet fighter, and they are not pretty. The radar malfunctioned, the fancy h …"

"… e had warned last July, in an earlier report leaked to outsiders, that the F-35 was not close to being ready for its “operational” flight tests. He sa …"

"… 5, F-16, and F/A-18, enhanced cockpit visibility was not designed into the F-35,” Gilmore wrote, evidently because of the need to create a bulky pilot e …"

"… rines. “There is,” he added, “no simple relief to limitations of the F-35 cockpit visibility.” The plane’s critical components also seemed to f …"