U.S. Air Force Close To Declaring F-35 Jet Combat Ready

Five years behind schedule, the U.S. Air Force is this week expected to declare that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet is finally ready for combat even as critics continue to rail against the most expensive military program in history.

The plane's builders and military officials will likely describe it as a milestone for a weapons program that was once hailed as the cheapest way to replace the aging U.S. fighter fleet.

But some critics question the plane's capabilities and argue the Pentagon is using the combat ready status of a handful of planes as leverage to secure funding to build hundreds more jets.

The plane is designed to evade enemy radar and destroy missile defenses and provide a flying hub to control other forces. The Air Force is the largest customer of the jet and hopes to buy almost 1,800 costing around $100 million apiece. Hundreds more are destined for the Navy, the Marine Corps, and international customers ranging from the U.K. to Turkey and Australia.

Builder Lockheed Martin Corp. said it expected to generate a fifth of its $50 billion in sales this year from the F-35. That is expected to double by 2020 as output from the mile-long assembly plant in Fort Worth, Tx rises to around 150 planes a year, if U.S. lawmakers and overseas buyers agree to fund the purchases.

But it arrives late following a troubled gestation as design problems doubled the total cost of the planned U.S. fleet to almost $400 billion, plus another $100 billion for overseas buyers.

"The plane can fly, but there's very little it can actually do," said Dan Grazier at the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog that's been a longtime critic of the program.

The Pentagon rejects the criticism, and said combat drills have proven the F-35 to be the most capable plane in its fleet even if all capabilities—including a full range of weapons — won't be available ahead of upgrades over the next several years.

The declaration of what the military calls initial operating capability means the first squadron of F-35A model jets based at Hill Air Force Base in Utah can now be called up to fight. The Air Force said last week it may start using the plane in the Middle East next year, though its full capabilities—including the ability to fire all of the weapons used on the planes it is slated to replace—won't be available until 2022. The U.S. Marine Corps declared its version of the plane ready last year, though the first jets aren't expected to be deployed in Asia until 2017.

Now-resolved design problems that included a faulty pilot helmet and an inability to fly near lightning left suppliers such as Northrop Grumman Corp., BAE Systems PLC and engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., waiting to realize their investment in higher production.

"It can't happen early enough," said David Heinz, a retired Marine Corps general who formerly ran the F-35 program and is now chief executive of IBC Advanced Alloys Corp, a Vancouver-based aerospace firm that makes parts to house the jet's sensors. The F-35 already accounts for half of IBC's $21 million annual revenue, and the company plans to add a second production shift and hire more staff as sales from its parts double over the next few years.

The plane is more expensive to buy and fly than existing aircraft, and the Pentagon and its suppliers have spent four years on a cost-cutting drive in an effort to lower the price from well over $100 million each to a targeted $85 million by 2019.

Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, the military head of the program since 2012, said reducing flying costs is even more important than the purchase price as they account for around 70% of the estimated $1 trillion the U.S. will spend on buying and operating the planes over their expected 50-year life. Gen. Bogdan has consulted logistics experts at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers in an effort to reduce the cost of storing and supplying spare parts for the planes around the world.

Mr. Heinz at IBC said doubts about the F-35's capabilities extended to his own family. His son, an F/A-18 jet pilot, initially declined to transition to the F-35 before taking part in a mock dogfight with the new jet. Its performance changed his mind. "We're ready to use it now," he said. "I think it will change [critics'] minds."

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2016 14:15 ET (18:15 GMT)

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