The House Appropriations defense subcommittee pressed the leaders of the Navy and Marine Corps today about how they could meet the national security challenges with shrinking budgets, questioning the survivability of the Littoral Combat Ships, the status of the costly and controversial Joint Strike Fighter and the Navy’s plan to take seven cruisers and possibly… Keep reading →

FIGHTER DEMONSTRATION CENTER, ARLINGTON, VA: Lockheed Martin executives gathered to tout their F-35 Joint Strike Fighter dismissed a widely reported Pentagon estimate that the aircraft would ultimately cost $1.1 trillion to develop, build, and operate over 55 years. In fact, they argued, the F-35 will cost less to operate than the airplanes it will replace… Keep reading →

Washington: A little-noticed but extraordinary event took place during the Paris Air Show and it had nothing to do with the show. The Senate Armed Services Committee came within a whisker of officially killing the F-35 program. The June 21 vote in a closed committee session came on an amendment offered by Sen. John McCain… Keep reading →