The F-35 had an estimated cost of $50.2 million per aircraft in 2001, Christine Fox, the director of cost estimates and program evaluation for the Department of Defense, said during her testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Now the Pentagon thinks the aircraft could cost more than $100 million per unit.
The news, presented by a panel including Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions Ashton Carter, was greeted by one unhappy senator after another.
“So much of this had been predicted,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said.
“It just seems like this is a reoccurring theme,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
“What causes these huge errors in these cost estimates?” Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked.
From Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.: “What the heck is going on?”
Perhaps no legislator was unhappier than Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the senior senator from Georgia. In an interview last week with The Telegraph, Chambliss noted the F-35 could “at the end of the day ... be just as expensive as the F-22.”
During the hearing, Chambliss noted the F-35’s price could rise to as much as $112 million per aircraft, $28 million more per unit than the last group of F-22s produced, “not materially different when you consider that the F-22 has significantly more capability.”
Robins Air Force Base undergoes audit
A compliance inspection team combed through Robins Air Force Base last week. The 81-person team gave little notice of their inspection, which was scheduled to go from Monday to Friday.
The Unit Compliance Inspection is given to units to assess their adherence to regulations from higher headquarters. Specifically, the inspection looked at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, the 78th Air Base Wing and the 402nd Maintenance Wing.
A review of the inspection is expected to be presented to Robins commanders Monday.
Air Force position filled after three years
Erin Conaton was confirmed as undersecretary of the Air Force earlier this month. The seat had been left empty for nearly three years.
Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, both Republicans from Alabama, had put holds on Conaton’s nomination to protest the Pentagon’s handling of the competition to replace the Air Force tanker.
Recently Northrop Grumman, with its facilities in Alabama, pulled out of the competition amid concerns that the contracting process was structured to favor the Boeing bid. When Shelby and Sessions pulled their hold, Conaton was confirmed.
Conaton is a former staffer for the House Armed Services Committee and its chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.
Air Force honors 339th Flight Test Squadron as a safe unit
The 339th Flight Test Squadron was named as one of the safest units in the Air Force Reserve Command for flight safety in 2009. The 446th Airlift Wing out of McChord Air Force Base, Wash., and Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., also were honored.
The awards were announced last week by the Air Force Safety Center.
The Air Mobility Command, based out of Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado were given the Air Force-wide safety awards, given by the secretary of the Air Force.
To contact military writer Thomas L. Day, call 744-4489.
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