SHOCK!! HORROR!! SURPRISE!!
Who'da thunk or forecast it........
F-35 delayed — again — despite CEO's promise to Trump
The F-35 will be delayed an additional seven months at a cost of at least $500 million despite a recent promise from Lockheed Martin's CEO to drive down costs, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Tuesday.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in a statement, said the CEO's personal promise to President-elect Trump was "surprising" given a letter he received from the Pentagon last month detailing the latest delay. "This is yet another troubling sign for a program that has already nearly doubled in cost, taken nearly two decades to field, and has long been the poster child for acquisition malpractice," McCain said.
After trashing the program's rising costs on Twitter, Trump met with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson in late December, when she offered her "personal commitment" to "aggressively" drive down the cost of the most expensive acquisition project ever undertaken by the Pentagon. But if she intends to do that, McCain said she had better be ready to explain how. "If Lockheed Martin believes it is possible to aggressively drive down the cost of the F-35, it is time for the company to reveal its plans to do so to the Congress and to American taxpayers," he said.
The seven-month delay means the system development and demonstration phase of the program won't be completed until May 2018, according to a letter Frank Kendall, the acquisition, technology and logistics undersecretary, sent to McCain. McCain said the delay just shows the need to further reform the acquisition process, something he intends to focus on as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.