That'll the operational aircraft with 90K hours behind it then? No doubt that is one of the reasons for wanting to retire the F-15C, got to find the money from somewhere. Also interesting they are working to keep it out of the purview of Congress....
DOD may reduce JSF procurement to cover development delay
A Government Accountability Office report released this week reveals the Defense Department may reduce F-35 Joint Strike Fighter procurement funding between fiscal years 2018 and 2020 to pay for system development and demonstration delays.
The program estimates it will need about $532 million to pay for a five-month delay to closing the JSF's development phase, and the GAO report states that the bulk of that money -- about $353 million -- would be needed in FY-18, according to preliminary budget projections. The Pentagon is expected to deliver its FY-18 budget request to Congress by the end of May.
To address that gap, the program plans to pull $451 million from procurement funding between FY-18 and FY-20 and redirect it toward SDD completion.
The report states the program would then try to reprogram funds from elsewhere in the budget to recoup the procurement funds."According to program officials, the majority of the reprogramming actions will be below the threshold that triggers prior approval of the congressional defense committees per DOD policy," the report states.
One exception to that will be $57.9 million in Marine Corps aircraft modification funding, which will need to be approved by Congress.
Even with that budget maneuvering, the program would need to find another source to fund the additional $81 million it projects it will need to complete SDD, the report states.