Marine Corps Reverses Course on JSF Cut

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Marine Corps Reverses Course on JSF Cut
InsideDefense.com NewsStand | Jason Sherman | November 17, 2006
The Marine Corps wants to reverse course on a Joint Strike Fighter funding cut it proposed over the summer, according to a senior Marine.
The service would like to restore resources to the aircraft program in order to ensure the maiden flight of the short-takeoff variant takes place in fiscal year 2008, said Col. Robert Walsh, assistant deputy commandant for aviation.

Concerns this spring about the technical maturity of the short-takeoff variant prompted the Marines -- in concert with the Navy -- to propose a 14-month delay in the program, a move that bumped 35 aircraft out of the sea services' spending plan for fiscal years 2008 to 2013. That plan was submitted in August to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Following the Navy and Marine Corps proposal -- first reported by InsideDefense.com -- Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England directed the Pentagon's office of program analysis and evaluation to examine whether technical challenges might force a delay to the originally planned first flight date for the short-takeoff version beyond fiscal year 2008.

The review, which included participation by JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin, international partners, the JSF joint program office and Navy and Marine Corps officials, found that the technical and schedule risk were within acceptable margins, Walsh told reporters at the Pentagon Nov. 15.

"We feel very confident, after what we've gone through in the last month in the review that's been going on, that [the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant] is going to fly in 2008,"Â￾ he added.

Walsh said that while the Marine Corps has renewed confidence about the ability of the program to execute its schedule, still unclear is where funding might be found in the coming weeks to put the program back on track for a flight during the third quarter of fiscal year 2008.

The financial side of things, Walsh said, is likely to be resolved soon as the Office of the Secretary of Defense finishes its fiscal year 2008 defense budget proposal and attendant six-year spending plan.