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By Stephen Trimble
US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Norton Schwartz has warned F-35 cost-overruns are likely to breach a statutory cap that would force the Department of Defense to formally re-certify the programme to Congress and invite a fresh wave of scrutiny.
"It's a possibility and may be even likely" the F-35 will violate cost overrun threshold set under the Nunn-McCurdy law, Schwartz told reporters on 18 February at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium.
The F-35's status may not become clear until the Pentagon notifies Congress of all Nunn-McCurdy breaches in the next round of selected acquisition reports on 1 April.
Scwhartz issued his warning nearly three weeks after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he was "not sure" about the F-35's status under the Nunn-McCurdy cap.
Gates released a Fiscal 2011 budget request on 1 February that proposes to slash production orders by four aircraft in the near-term. Gates also fired the military's programme manager and withheld $614 million in incentive payments to Lockheed.
Even greater numbers of F-35s could be reduced over the next five years, depending on unit cost trends. As production orders are reduced, the pressure increases on Lockheed to maintain unit costs.
"We have not been notified of a Nunn-McCurdy breach so it would be premature to comment," a Lockheed statement says. Last month, a leaked US Navy study showed the F-35's total ownership costs, which include development, production and sustainment, have doubled since the contract was awarded on 26 October 2001.
Lockheed has disputed the USN's cost analysis, arguing that the programme office's cost estimates have not changed since FY2007.
But that argument could be mooted if the Pentagon officially adopts a more conservative budgeting philosophy for F-35 cost estimates.
Despite Schwartz's belief the Lockheed stealth fighter faces new cost overruns, the USAF remains strongly committed to supporting the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant.
Michael Donley, secretary of the Air Force, also told reporters that the service's overall plans to buy 1,763 fighters have not changed. That number remains fixed, says Donley, despite fighter reductions called for under the Quadrennial Defense Review. The USAF now anticipates a force structure with a total of about 2,050 manned fighters, including about 186 Lockheed F-22s.
US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Norton Schwartz has warned F-35 cost-overruns are likely to breach a statutory cap that would force the Department of Defense to formally re-certify the programme to Congress and invite a fresh wave of scrutiny.
"It's a possibility and may be even likely" the F-35 will violate cost overrun threshold set under the Nunn-McCurdy law, Schwartz told reporters on 18 February at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium.
The F-35's status may not become clear until the Pentagon notifies Congress of all Nunn-McCurdy breaches in the next round of selected acquisition reports on 1 April.
Scwhartz issued his warning nearly three weeks after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he was "not sure" about the F-35's status under the Nunn-McCurdy cap.
Gates released a Fiscal 2011 budget request on 1 February that proposes to slash production orders by four aircraft in the near-term. Gates also fired the military's programme manager and withheld $614 million in incentive payments to Lockheed.
Even greater numbers of F-35s could be reduced over the next five years, depending on unit cost trends. As production orders are reduced, the pressure increases on Lockheed to maintain unit costs.
"We have not been notified of a Nunn-McCurdy breach so it would be premature to comment," a Lockheed statement says. Last month, a leaked US Navy study showed the F-35's total ownership costs, which include development, production and sustainment, have doubled since the contract was awarded on 26 October 2001.
Lockheed has disputed the USN's cost analysis, arguing that the programme office's cost estimates have not changed since FY2007.
But that argument could be mooted if the Pentagon officially adopts a more conservative budgeting philosophy for F-35 cost estimates.
Despite Schwartz's belief the Lockheed stealth fighter faces new cost overruns, the USAF remains strongly committed to supporting the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant.
Michael Donley, secretary of the Air Force, also told reporters that the service's overall plans to buy 1,763 fighters have not changed. That number remains fixed, says Donley, despite fighter reductions called for under the Quadrennial Defense Review. The USAF now anticipates a force structure with a total of about 2,050 manned fighters, including about 186 Lockheed F-22s.