Hmmm, the latest hearing on the JSF was suddenly switched from a public hearing to a secret hearing. See Sweetman in AWST below.
If you want to know why, I suspect it's the JET forecast in the second article, where they think there could be an up to
30 month additional slip as well as the additional 6 months already admitted.
That will put the price through the roof.
JSF Hearing Closed
At the last minute, the Senate canceled a public hearing on the Joint Strike Fighter program that was to have taken place today. Instead, the scheduled witnesses - including procurement chief Ashton Carter, JSF program director Mike Heinz and a representative from the Joint Estimating Team (in the role of Inspector Javert) - will brief the Armed Services Committee in closed session.
It's very generous of the Senate majority to spare program critics the humiliation of hearing witness after witness say that the program is in excellent shape, and that defense secretary Robert Gates' dismissal of the first JET report last year was an act of supreme foresight and wisdom.
Well, actually, my first response to the original hearing announcement was to quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "A spanking! A spanking!" But now we'll just have to wait for the leaks.
But the trade press will be breathing a sigh of relief - because the hearing clashed with the Aerospace Industries Association's big holiday luncheon at the Mayflower. Personal congratulations to Graham, by the way, on winning the AIA's Lyman Award - I would love to be there but I'm closing DTI's Defense 2010 special in New York.
By the way, yesterday marked a month since stealth paperweight BF-1 arrived at Patuxent River.
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Pentagon Eyes More Cautious JSF Test Plan
Officials at the Pentagon appear poised to take a more conservative approach to the $300-billion Joint Strike Fighter program after design changes, parts shortages and out-of-sequence work severely delayed completion of development aircraft.
Officials at Lockheed Martin maintain the problems are finally under control and they expect a six-month slip in completing development deliveries.
But Pentagon leaders project this could slide six months more, while up to 30 extra months could be needed to complete development, now planned for October 2014. In this, they appear to be siding with the independent Joint Estimate Team’s (JET) “worst-case” projections.