F-35 Cancelled, then what ?

[LowObservable]

Spaz - "The service remains committed to the F-35B" means what it says, but what it means does not mean what you think it means.

It means "The F-35B acquisition is current policy and is set above my pay grade."

Because the F-35 is a joint program (and because of its enormous size) neither the Navy nor the AF - not even the CNO/SecNav or the CSAF/SecAF - is authorized to terminate it or cut their orders. Even the decision to constrain B production until jets can be delivered without known mechanical flaws (which stands, the "off probation" brouhaha notwithstanding) had to be taken by the SecDef.