Lonewolf,
This thread does have a certain "hamster wheel" quality to it. I've probably repeated myself or my position more than once over the course of the years it has been open ...
The hamster wheel potential is kept alive by statements like this in rebuttal to the DOT&E report. The second sentence is but one that keeps it going. I don't think it was the intention to have given JPO either the time or budget they run on. The engine fix is another.
Although the DOT&E report is factually accurate, it does not fully address program efforts to resolve known technical challenges and schedule risks. It is the F-35 Joint Program Office’s responsibility to find developmental issues, resolve them and execute with the time and budget we have been given. Our government and industry team has a proven track record of overcoming technical challenges discovered during developmental and operational testing and fleet operations, and delivering on program commitments. A few recent examples of issues that are resolved include the F-35C tailhook, the F135 engine rub, and F-35B STOVL Auxiliary Air Inlet door. The F-35C has now “caught the wire” more than 200 times at sea, the engine rub fix is incorporated on the production line and delivered engines are being retrofitted, and the F‑35B has performed more than 1,000 vertical landings safely.