F-35 Contract May Be the Worst Deal the DOD Has Ever Made

In June of 2013, Time magazine reported that the DOD will have spent $87.5 billion on R&D, Procurement and Initial Spare Parts on the F-35. It also reported that "there is a discernible trend in F-35 fabrication costs: they're clearly increasing." It adds that "Future years may prove even more costly: more stringent testing is still in the future and will not finish until 2019 at the earliest."

Worse news has just arrived. The DOD hopes that it may "eventually select one or multiple product support integrators (PSIs), lead contractors to assist the program office in F-35 sustainment."

There is at least one more, perhaps unforeseen, problem. According to InsideDefense in a great piece of investigative reporting "F-35 PEO Says Program Fighting For Data Rights To Enable Comparison", "The government would have to own or have access to a large amount of proprietary data Lockheed and Pratt [Lockheed produces the F-35 airplane; Pratt manufacturers the jet's engine] have developed for the F-35.

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