Pentagon orders cost review of F-35, Air Force One programs

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base manages the new Air Force One program and has a F-35 Division

Credit: Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Credit: Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Friday ordered reviews of two key Air Force aircraft programs tied to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base that have been criticized by President Donald Trump as too expensive.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at the base manages the new Air Force One program and has a F-35 Division.

Mattis asked Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work to conduct a review of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program to find ways to “significantly reduce” the costs. He said the review should compare the F-35 with the F/A-18 Super Hornet and determine if an upgraded Hornet could be a cost-effective alternative that also meets requirements.

Mattis also asked for a review of the presidential aircraft program — known as Air Force One — to identify cost savings. Boeing is slated to build two new planes to replace the aging models that shuttle the president around the world. The new aircraft would go into service around 2024.

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“In the end, the whole debate about Air Force One comes down to money,” Loren B. Thompson, a Virginia-based senior defense analyst and defense industry consultant said in an interview Friday. “The Air Force will have to decide what it’s worth to have state-of-the-art capabilities and what risks it runs if it doesn’t. It wouldn’t make much sense to get a cheaper Air Force One that can’t protect the president sufficiently.”

Thompson added the existing Air Force One fleet of Boeing 747-200s will be obsolete “by the end of the decade” because of information technology advancements. “If we wait to replace the plane, we are putting both the president and national security at risk,” he said.

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with the Virginia-based Teal Group, said a next generation Air Force One — selected as the Boeing 747-8 — must be able to act as a survivable command center in a crisis. If President Donald J. Trump “wants the U.S. to be the power it has been on the world’s stage, this plane is essential,” he said.

Mattis’ orders come after Trump’s tweets in December revealing that he asked Boeing to “price-out” a comparable Super Hornet became of cost overruns in Lockheed Martin’s F-35.

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Critics have said despite the F-35 technical problems, cost overruns and schedule delays, the fifth-generation fighter has more stealth, information management and sensor capabilities the F/A-18 does not possess.

The stealthy F-35 has a $379 billion price tag, the most expensive weapon system in history. Aerospace defense giant Lockheed Martin is building three versions for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, and other countries, including Israel, are buying the fighter jet.

“There’s no chance at all the F-35 program will be canceled because the United States would lose global air superiority,” Thompson said. “If the Air Force can’t deploy large numbers of F-35s in Europe than we won’t be able to deter a war in the future. The reason is simple. Russian radars can’t see the F-35s.”

Despite the huge cost, the program has strong bipartisan support in Congress, where lawmakers view the aircraft as essential to U.S. national security.

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton and chairman of the House Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee, is a supporter. In a statement, Turner said he would work with Mattis to make the F-35 cost efficient.

The congressman added the capabilities of fifth-generation fighters like the F-35 provide “are critical to our national security strategy as Russia and China work to expand their aircraft capabilities. Given the current threat environment, it is imperative that the U.S. continue to invest in both the F-18 and F-35 programs.”

The Super Hornet is flown by the Navy and the Marine Corps and foreign allies, but has never served as an Air Force fighter.

Trump also tweeted last month that the costs of the new Air Force One were “out of control.” He demanded: “Cancel order!”

Last March, the Government Accountability Office, the government’s auditing arm, estimated total program costs at more than $3.2 billion, much of it for research and development, through the 2020 federal budget year. The Defense Department and Air Force officials put the cost for two new aircraft at about $4 billion, when research and development, construction and future maintenance were included.

The Air Force has pressed for a faster replacement schedule, saying the aging current Boeing 747s are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape.

While Mattis, Trump and the Pentagon can push for deep cuts or try to cancel the program, Congress controls the government’s purse strings and makes final budget decisions.

Program offices for both the F-35 and the next presidential airliner each employ about 100 people at Wright-Patterson.

Associated Press contributed to this story

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