F-35 Review Postponed Until June 14

The F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), planes arrive at Edwards Air Force Base in California in this May 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Tom Reynolds/Lockheed Martin Corp/Handout

Pentagon F-35 Review Postponed Until Mid-June -- Reuters

* New review date set for June 14
* Pentagon waiting for cost estimates, operating dates

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - A high-level Pentagon review of the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 fighter program has been postponed from this week until June 14, three sources familiar with the scheduled meeting said on Friday.

Defense Undersecretary Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, and other senior defense officials are due to establish a new procurement baseline at the meeting for the radar-evading F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter, which is currently estimated to cost $382 billion.

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Update: Pentagon review of F-35 progress, costs postponed -- Sky Talk

My Comment: When I first read the Reuters story, I said to myself .... oh oh, they are seeing problems in the data and they need time to sort it out. But apparently this is nothing new ..... that officials regularly meet to assess where a contract and/or project is going. OK ..... but I skeptical for the simple reason hat the F-35 IS years behind in deployment, and way over budget.

On a side note, I then read this story from the Air Force Times ..... Officials: Military may deploy F-35 early. For a project that has as many bugs and problems as this one .... to now deploy it in the field .... hmmmm .... any predictions on the number of crashes we are going to have until Lockheed gets all the bugs out.