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The F-35 program, despite cost overruns and
schedule delays, cannot fail, said House Armed Service Committee Chairman Rep. Mac
Thornberry (R-Texas) on Thursday. There is no “option of saying ‘OK, never
mind, we don’t need this plane anymore,’” he told reporters during a morning
breakfast meeting in Washington D.C. “We have to learn the lessons of why it
has taken longer and cost more than we expected,” but the program must move
ahead, because “not only the United States, but many of our allies, are
dependent on the F-35 being successful.” The chairman also acknowledged that
the F-35 is not the first or only program to face bumps in its acquisition, but
he said all of the programs have come with lessons that need to be learned.
