Influential representatives of the US Democratic Party will not support an increase in funding for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighter program in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year 2022, if it does not move forward in solving an extensive list of problems, writes Defense News.
According to US House of Representatives member Donald Norcross, the lack of progress could lead to the fact that "it may be necessary to invest in other, more affordable programs, and to fill the operational shortage of potentially more than 800 tactical fighters." "I will not support any requests for additional [F-35 Lightning II] aircraft beyond what is contained in the president's budget request for this year," the Democrat said.
John Garamendi, a member of the US House of Representatives Committee, agreed with his colleague. "The program goes beyond the budget. It cannot realize the promised opportunities. And its combat capability indicators do not even begin to meet the threshold values. The industry's solution to many of these problems is simply to ask taxpayers to throw money at the problem. That's not going to happen. The easy days of the past are over, " the politician stated.
The publication among the problems of the F-35 Lightning II mentions, in particular, a shortage of Pratt & Whitney F135 engines, expensive maintenance of the fighter and delays in upgrading its computing systems. Defense News notes that since 2015, the United States has consistently increased budget funding for the F-35 Lightning II program, but statements by Norcross and Garamendi may indicate that this situation will change in the 2022 fiscal year.
The publication recalls that initially in the 2021 fiscal year, the Pentagon requested the purchase of 79 units of the F-35 Lightning II, but in the end, Congress increased this number by 17, which cost American taxpayers an additional $ 1.6 billion.
In January, Christopher Miller, the acting US Secretary of Defense, called the F-35 Lightning II program a piece of shit.
Ivan Potapov
