Budget Request Set For Release March 4

The Pentagon plans to scale back the number of F-35 airplanes it will request in the FY2015 budget, according to sources with knowledge of the document. In the next fiscal year, the Department of Defense will ask for 34 of the fifth-generation fighters, eight fewer than had been anticipated.

Bloomberg News reports that officials with knowledge of the budget who requested anonymity because it has not been publicly released said that the request will consist of 26 "A" models for the Air Force, six "B" STOVL airplanes for the Marine Corps, and two "C" carrier variants for the Navy.

A spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the program deemed the most expensive weapons acquisition in history, said it would be "inappropriate to comment or speculate" before the budget is released.

The program has been dogged by delays and technical problems, and the overall number of F-35s to be acquired in its service life has been cut by 409 airplanes since the first estimates made in 2001. Last month, the Pentagon's chief tester said it "wasn't sufficiently reliable" during flight testing conducted last year.

Bloomberg reports that the Pentagon's five-year budget plan calls for 55 of the airplanes to be delivered to the U.S. military through 2019. That does not include F-35s that might be acquired by partner nations.

(F-35 image from file)

FMI: www.defense.gov