By Doug Cameron
The U.S. Marine Corps on Friday said the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter is finally ready for combat, a milestone for the world's
most expensive weapons program and one that is likely to shift
debate to the jet's capabilities.
The announcement by Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford
comes almost 14 years after Lockheed Martin Corp. beat out Boeing
Co. for what's become the world's priciest military contract, with
the Pentagon planning to spend almost $400 billion to develop and
buy more than 2,400 jets.
The declaration of initial operating capability, or IOC, means
the first squadron, comprising 10 of the F-35B model jets based at
Yuma Air Force Base in Arizona, can now be called up to fight.
There was a final assessment of their operation, maintenance and
training earlier this month. The first aircraft aren't scheduled to
be deployed overseas until 2017 when a squadron is due to be
stationed in Japan.
The F-35 is entering the fray more than four years late, and
costs have spiraled to twice their original estimate, which has
made it the subject of intense debate and criticism. The Marines'
move is expected to push supporters and critics alike to focus on
the jet's capabilities rather than just its cost.
Mandy Smithberger, a director at the Project on Government
Oversight, said the Marines were determined to meet their July
target even if the plane wasn't fully ready. "We don't think this
is a genuine IOC," said Ms. Smithberger, whose watchdog group has
long been a critic of the F-35 program.
Ms. Smithberger said the arrival of the first combat-ready jets
will allow it to be compared more realistically to the planes it is
due to replace, including the F-16 and A-10 Warthog. "Does the F-35
do this as well or better than what we're throwing to the
boneyard?" she said.
Critics have pointed to the F-35's mixed performance in
air-to-air combat tests with other jets, though the Pentagon has
said this isn't its main role. There are also concerns that the
absence of a gun, which won't be ready until 2017, limits its
ability to protect ground troops.
The Marines said the F-35B will enter service without some other
features it had wanted from the start, including the ability for
the jets' sensors to communicate properly with other planes. A more
advanced pilot helmet with improved night vision also isn't ready.
However, the Marines said the F-35 is still a huge improvement on
its existing, aging jet fleet.
"I'm very confident I could send them to any place in the
world," Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, the Marines' deputy commandant for
aviation, told reporters earlier this week. The F-35Bs can carry
missiles and bombs, and he said the gun wasn't a problem as other
jets will provide that type of support for ground troops until all
of the F-35's planned weapons are available.
The F-35B model is the most expensive of three versions of the
jet being developed, with the latest models costing around $134
million each, and can take off and land from short runways or
vertically like a helicopter.
The Pentagon expects to pay almost $400 billion developing and
buying the jets over the next 30 years to replace hundreds of older
planes. The Air Force expects to declare its first batch of F-35s
combat ready next year, with the Navy following in 2018 or
2019.
Northrop Grumman Corp, BAE Systems PLC, the Pratt & Whitney
unit of United Technologies Corp. and Rolls-Royce PLC are also
among the largest of more than 1,200 suppliers world-wide for the
F-35 program.
The F-35's troubled gestation stemmed from the decision to have
concurrent development and production, forcing Lockheed and its
partners to go back and redesign parts of the plane when problems
were uncovered. Development isn't expected to conclude until
2017.
Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com
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