US seeks to reassure Italy on costly F-35 fighter

Pentagon chief Leon Panetta sought to reassure Italy's defense minister over the troubled F-35 fighter program in talks Monday, pledging to hold down costs of the radar-evading warplane, officials said.

During Italian Defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola's meeting with Panetta in Washington, the rising price tag for the plane came up "but both leaders expressed a commitment to the program," a US official told AFP.

"The secretary indicated that it's a priority of the (Defense) Department to ensure that costs are kept in line," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Read more