F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Abstract

The largest procurement program in the Department of Defense (DOD), the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), also called the Lightning II, is a new aircraft being procured in different versions for the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. Current DOD plans call for acquiring a total of 2,456 JSFs. Hundreds of additional F-35s are expected to be purchased by several U.S. allies, eight of which are cost-sharing partners in the program. The F-35 promises significant advances in military capability. Like many high-technology programs before it, reaching that capability has put the program above its original budget and behind the planned schedule. The administration's proposed FY2011 defense budget requested about $6.8 billion in procurement funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. This would fund the procurement of 22 F-35As for the Air Force (with an additional aircraft requested to be funded from the Overseas Contingency Operations account), 13 F-35Bs for the Marine Corps, and seven F-35Cs for the Navy. The administration?s proposed FY2011 defense budget also proposed terminating the F-35 alternate engine program, which is intended to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt and Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35. The F-35 alternate engine program emerged as a major item of debate on the FY2011 defense budget. FY2011 defense authorization act: The report on the House-passed version of the FY2011 defense authorization bill included language limiting procurement to 30 F-35s pending certification that the F-35 had achieved certain testing parameters. The Senate Armed Services Committee-reported version of the bill required similar, but different achievements, but did not withhold funding.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 26, 2011
Accession Number
ADA543517

Entities

People

  • Jeremiah Gertler

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Attack Aircraft
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Military Aviation
  • National Security
  • Short Takeoff Aircraft
  • Tactical Aircraft
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Naval Engineering and Maritime Security
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting