F135 Delivers the Best Value for the F-35

Four out of five independent studies have concluded that an alternate engine will not save money over the life of the JSF program. The Administration and Pentagon budgets have not funded an alternate engine for the F-35 for the past three years. Continued funding for an alternate engine has come from Congressional earmarks. In fact, funding the alternate engine has taken money away from the overall JSF program, reducing the number of aircraft which can be produced. The total aircraft impact of continuing with the alternate engine could be a reduction of up to 40 aircraft, which will drive up the unit cost of each plane. In his remarks on changes to the defense budget delivered on April 6, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced his intention to eliminate "programs where the requirements were truly in the exquisite category and the technologies required were not reasonably available to affordably meet the program's cost or goals." At an additional cost of $2.9 billion, the alternate engine falls into the "exquisite" category Secretary Gates describes. The Joint Strike Fighter does not have an alternate fuselage, alternate avionics, or an alternate air frame. The alternate engine will not lower costs for the Joint Strike Fighter program and should be eliminated.