Like most major Defense Department projects, however, the F-35 has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. One of the reasons for canceling the F-22 was the plane cost quite a bit more than was originally estimated. Unfortunately, so has the F-35 program. It seems Gates understands this and has now done something about it.
See this guy? Marine Corps Maj. Gen. David Heinz? He’s the program manager for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a program plagued by cost overruns. Robert Gates, the secretary of defense, just fired him.
One reporter called it a “bombshell” in a still-ongoing press briefing. But Gates canceled the Air Force’s F-22 fighter jet in favor of making the JSF the replacement jet, as, among other reasons, it’s operable across both the Navy and the Air Force. But defense reformers have pointed to the JSF’s ballooning costs as similarly problematic. Gates just said that the program’s coming under fiscal control. But he said he couldn’t put the program back in order “without people being held accountable.”
While this is a good sign, reigning in costs will be accomplished by more than just firing the guy in charge of the program. Resetting the entire procurement process for this particular plane might not be a bad idea. The idea of a JSF fighter is long in coming - duplication of programs is part of the problem with the DoD - and reducing the competition among the services would go a long way toward reducing costs.
It's a good first step, and Gates needs to be applauded for making it.
