Air Force May Expand, Speed Up Purchase Of F-35 Fighter Jets (From Fox News)

Although the Air Force is destined to eventually receive over two-thirds of the tri-service F-35 fighters destined for U.S. users, there is growing concern that its planes are being bought too slowly. Unless the current rate of production is accelerated, in 2030 half of the Air Force fighter fleet will still consist of non-stealthy aircraft developed during the Cold War. These legacy fighters would be much less likely to survive combat with a near-peer adversary than the F-35. So now there is talk of speeding up the buy, and maybe acquiring more than the planned 1,763 F-35s that the Air Force originally planned. Lexington Institute senior fellow Kris Osborn has written a commentary for Fox News here.