Air Force Lt. General Says The Three Variants Are Only About 20-25 Percent 'Common'

From the outside, the three variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter look very similar. But they are very different airplanes with very different missions, according to the U.S. Senate, and the head of the JSF program.

In a draft of the Senate's National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, the Senate states: "Despite aspirations for a joint aircraft, the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C are essentially three distinct aircraft, with significantly different missions and capability requirements.”

National Interest online reports that earlier this year, U.S. Air Force lieutenant general Christopher Bogdan, head of the JSF program office, said during a recent seminar that the three variants of the F-35 have only about 20-25 percent of their components in common. Air Force Magazine reported that Brogen said it is "almost like three separate production lines." A true JSF is difficult, he said, because each branch insists on its unique requirements.

The language indicating that the aircraft are three airplanes may not make it all the way through the budget process. Similar language may not be included in the House version of the Defense Authorization Act, and therefore not make it into the reconciliation bill.

In its NDAA language, the Senate requires the JSF program office to close by 2019, when the plane should be in full-rate production. It would then be split into three different programs for the Air Force, Navy and Marines. “Devolving this program to the services will help ensure the proper alignment of responsibility and accountability the F-35 program needs and has too often lacked,” the Senate said.

(Images from file)

FMI: www.armed-services.senate.gov