Pentagon Meeting Held on F-35's FutureMarch 28, 2008
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Senior Pentagon officials met March 27 to review progress on Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program with an eye on whether to approve production of the next 12 aircraft.
The defense acquisition board, convened by top Pentagon weapons buyer John Young, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, comes as the F-35 program -- the largest, most costly U.S. weapons program -- is attracting increased scrutiny because of development problems and rising costs.
The acquisition meetings are formal steps during key stages in the weapons-buying process, when senior officials review progress on meeting technical goals, schedules and the budget.
A spokeswoman in the Pentagon said that the meeting was held and that she expected no formal announcement. Typically, Young and his predecessors may take days to review data presented at the meeting before making any decisions.
The Pentagon's F-35 procurement office and the contractor team headed by Lockheed are seeking Young's go-ahead to ramp up production on 12 aircraft for the Air Force and Marines.
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http://www.military.com/news/article/pentagon-meeting-held-on-f35s-future.html?col=1186032310810uhc comment: At $239,000,000 a pop, these guys are talking about 12 aircraft for $2,856,000,000.