Just noticed this report from Military.com, noting that the Air Force is planning to cut its F-35 acquisition because of cost increases:
The Air Force plans to reduce its expected purchase of Joint Strike Fighters by 72 aircraft in the service’s proposed six-year spending plan due to skyrocketing costs in the Lightning II program, defense officials tell Inside the Air Force. {Munoz and Bennet, "Air Force Plans JSF Cuts", 2006}
Since I keep saying that I should get into the prediction business, this seems like as good an issue as any to start with. Seems a pretty safe bet that critics and those reformers that are still around will use this as a classic we-told-you-so moment and call for the F-35’s cancellation. Of course, the same folks are already against the F-22. Most likely, they will advance an older-is-better argument where "better" is defined as "cheaper" and "simpler", as the basis for arguing that we should continue to rely on the fighters we have.
Tags: JSF, Joint Strike Fighter, F-35, military reform, military transformation