US Air Force (USAF) secretary nominee Barbara Barrett vowed to prioritise reducing the cost per flying hour of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) conventional variant aircraft if she is confirmed.
“The F-35 is an important element of the arsenal and we need the capability, but the cost for flight hours seems extremely high,” Barrett told a Senate panel on 12 September. “I would use the background I have to negotiate and build the capability so the aircraft could be flown with less expense.”
Barbara Barrett, the US Air Force secretary nominee, said she would prioritise reducing the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) conventional variant's cost per flying hour. (US Air Force)
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) ranking member, questioned whether the USAF can afford its programme of record of 1,763 F-35As if they cost USD35,000 cost per hour to operate. Reed’s comments came after Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas criticised the USAF for using F-35s and Boeing F-15 Eagles to bomb an Islamic State stronghold north of Baghdad, Iraq, earlier this week.
Cotton said he has big concerns that the USAF is using expensive, high-performance aircraft designed for war in contested airspace to go after terrorists.
“Feels to me we should be using aircraft that are suitable an in an environment where we have total air dominance and our F-35s and their pilots should be training for high end conflict against adversaries like China,” Cotton said.
The USAF said it would not be able to respond to a request for comment prior to publication. The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) and Reed’s office did not return requests for comment.
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