The Times, one of the U.K.’s premier newspapers, recently published a series of articles on an investigation into British procurement of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The Times’ reporting levied three basic criticisms of the F-35B. First, the JSF costs more than the figures provided by the program office. Second, the aircraft is technically flawed. Third, the British Navy is unprepared to take full advantage of the JSF’s game changing potential. I would respectfully observe that only the third point is accurate and that none of these constitutes a reason not to proceed with the plan to acquire some 138 of this fifth generation aircraft. I have written a detailed response to The Times’ criticisms for RealClearDefense here.
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