Aircraft
Paris 2011: F-35 Will Be Affordable, Says USAF Program Officer
Predictions over escalating costs of the next-generation fighter will be proven wrong because of built-in reliability and maintainability aspects.

The deputy program officer of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office said Tuesday that predictions over escalating costs of the next-generation multi-role fighter will be proven wrong because of built-in reliability and maintainability aspects. With the program facing renewed scrutiny by the U.S. Congress and Department of Defense (DOD), Air Force Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore described long-term cost projections as uncertain, and said the program is making progress in its tenth year of development.

Moore was followed on stage during a Paris Air Show press briefing by a representative of the defense ministry of Norway, the latest partner nation to order F-35s, who said the ministry “expects the (F-35) price will be close to the price we anticipated and forwarded to Parliament.”