Why Trump Blasted the 'Out of Control' F-35 Program

John Venable

Security, Americas

Any good military program requires competition to flourish.

A wave of anxiety washed through the civil-military industrial complex when President-elect Trump tweeted that the F-35 program was “out of control,” and that he intends to save billions of dollars on military and other purchases after January 20. Many wondered if the sand was shifting beneath the troubled fifth-generation fighter program.

It’s not. After years of well-intended but ill-advised meddling, the F-35 is now on solid ground.

That said, it is important to understand what gave the F-35 its poor reputation, how well the program is doing now, and how “friction” has been critical in bringing it back on track.

The Best of Intentions

In 1992, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney knew the services needed to replace their aging strike assets, but he was concerned with the cost of separate Navy and Air Force development programs. He directed the Navy Advanced Attack and Air Force Multi-Role Fighter programs to merge into a single effort, now known as the Joint Strike Fighter or JSF. In 1995, Congress piled on to the drive for efficiencies by merging the Marine Corps’ AV-8A “Harrier” follow-on development program into the JSF.

Prior to the forced marriage, each service had clarity on what it needed for its replacement platforms. Now, however, they were bundled together in a highly ambitious program tasked with replacing the capabilities and capacity associated with five very different aircraft, operating in at least as many different environments. The Bush administration’s overreach for efficiencies, coupled with those of Congress, set the stage for the subsequent F-35 program delays—delays that would be exacerbated by an explosion of technological advances.

Concurrent Development

In 1995, technology was progressing so rapidly that it would be hard to field a jet that was not already approaching obsolescence. To overcome that challenge, the Defense Department agreed on a revolutionary approach to development: it would move to acquire a system even as many parts of the aircraft were still undergoing some level of research and development.

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