The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, already the costliest weapons program in U.S. history, is going to eat up even more taxpayer dollars now that more than a dozen flaws have been found in the aircraft.

 

A secretive review panel convened by the Department of Defense discovered 13 problems with the F-35’s design. Experts say the Pentagon, which is facing budget cuts, will have to spend at least another billion dollars on the planes already built—and even more money after that to correct newer models to come off the assembly line.

 

The total cost of the stealth F-35 is $1 trillion and counting, and the planes, which are supposed to replace all fighters used by the Air Force, Navy and Marines, won’t be ready to go until 2018.

 

Despite the enormous price tag, Congress has no intentions of killing the program. Not while the primary contractors building the F-35—Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Pratt & Whitney—contributed more than $300,000 in the past year to the campaigns of the 48 members of the House Joint Strike Fighter Caucus, which includes 37 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Twelve of the members are Texas Republicans, led by Rep. Kay Granger.

 

Undeterred by the controversy, Japan’s Ministry of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that it will sign a contract with Lockheed worth $4.7 billion to purchase 42 F-35A Lightning II planes.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Trillion-Dollar Jet Has Thirteen Expensive New Flaws (by David Axe, Wired)

Lockheed Martin to 42 F-35A fighters to Japan in $4.7 Billion Deal (by Nicolas von Kospoth, defpro.com)

Commentary on F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Concurrency Quick Look Review (by Nick Schwellenbach, Project on Government Oversight)

Buying the Joint Strike Fighter Caucus (by Ben Freeman, Robert Maguire and Nick Schwellenbach, Project on Government Oversight)

Fighter Jet Costs Jump 50%, Triggering Congressional Review and Lockheed Defense (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)