Joint Strike Fighter

A Defensive Strike For Its Fighter Jet (Dallas Morning News)…Eric Torbenson, Jan 6, 2009.

Seven years ago, Lockheed Martin Corp. won a bitterly fought contract for what would end up being the world’s most expensive fighter jet program. Today, it finds itself in an odd position: having to defend the plane it won the right to build.

Published reports saying the F-35 – featuring the latest in avionics – fared poorly in a military exercise with Russian jets also stirred up military watchers.

Both criticisms were rebutted by Lockheed and generals who called the plane a racehorse. It carries much more fuel to expand its range and hides many of its weapons internally, both big advantages over current aircraft, they said. Its three variants will have many common parts, lowering maintenance expenses.

Lockheed’s F-22 Raptor fighter program has already been scaled back and faces more budget cuts in the next Congress, analysts say. A program initially devised to build 750 F-22s has been cut to 183 – and some in Congress want even fewer.