ORAC,
......Bogdan seems frustrated by the lack of leverage he has in dealing with a monopoly engine provider. “There is only one engine on the F-35. Period,” he said. “When you are in a sole source environment it is difficult to find the right leverage and motivation and drive the cost out of a program.”........
Another major planning and procurement lesson not learned from the early days of the F-15 & F-16 programs when Pratt was sole engine source. The "Great Engine War" with GE fixed the engine problem both technically and cost-wise. We have somehow managed to have all the world's stupidest planners and procurers assembled in one location, the Pentagon.
TD