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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background and Issues for Congress |
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Source: Congressional Research Service |
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Ref: RL30563 |
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Issued: Dec. 22, 2009 |
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129 pages in PDF format
The US administration’s proposed FY2010 defense budget requested about $10.4 billion in research and development and procurement funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. This would fund the procurement of 10 F-35As for the Air Force, 16 F-35Bs for the Marine Corps, and four F-35Cs for the Navy.
The administration’s proposed FY2010 defense budget also proposed terminating the F-35 alternate engine program, which is intended to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt and Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35.
The Obama administration opposes further funding for the alternate engine program and has threatened to veto the FY2010 defense authorization or appropriation bill if either “would seriously disrupt” the F-35 program. The F-35 alternate engine program has emerged as a major item of debate on the FY2010 defense budget.
While heavy on budget procedures, this report includes a good overview of the JSF program, as well as a detailed analysis of its costs, its schedule, and the aircraft’s design, which is sometimes overlooked.
It estimates the F-35’s program acquisition unit cost at just over $100 million, and its average procurement cost at $81 million.
As the CRS has no publicly accessible website, this report is hosted on the website of the US State department.
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(PDF format) |
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Full text |
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