After the preliminary design review was completed on schedule in April 2003, every subsequent milestone in the F-35 program was missed by at least one year. Yet Lockheed Martin continued to exude optimism, rejecting criticism that production was being ramped up before development and producibility issues were solved. The company’s credibility having been dented, its predictions that the ultimate unit cost of the first stealthy international fighter jet could still be $60 million (F-35A CTOL version, 2010 dollars) are raising eyebrows–especially when the cost has been contradicted by various U.S. government reports.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) talks of a “near doubling” in average unit prices since the program began. When the F-35 program breached the Nunn-McCurdy Act 12 months ago, the Pentagon predicted to Congress an average unit production cost of $133 million in current dollars.
