Pentagon may delay work on 100 more F-35 fighters

Senior Pentagon officials are considering postponing production of an additional 100 F-35 fighter jets by Lockheed Martin Corp as part of a five-year defense plan to be sent to Congress, according to three people familiar with the program.

"No decision is likely to be made until November or December, but this is clearly a major option that would help the Department of Defense meet the savings mandates under the Budget Control Act," said one person who was not authorized to speak on the record.

The program has already been restructured twice over the past two years, postponing production of over 224 radar-evading fighter planes -- moves that tend to drive up the price of each airplane in the short-term.

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