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Eugene

(61,900 posts)
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 11:39 AM Apr 2016

Senator Says Fighter Program Has Been Scandal and Tragedy

Source: Associated Press

Senator Says Fighter Program Has Been Scandal and Tragedy

By RICHARD LARDNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Apr 26, 2016, 11:21 AM ET

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee says the record and performance of the most expensive weapons program in U.S. military history has been a scandal and a tragedy.

Senator John McCain of Arizona delivered a withering critique of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at a committee hearing Tuesday.

The Pentagon plans to spend close to $400 billion to buy nearly 2,500 F-35s for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The budget request for fiscal year 2017 includes $8.3 billion to buy 63 aircraft.

McCain says the aircraft's development schedule has stretched to 15 years, deliveries of the F-35 have been delayed, and costs have skyrocketed.

McCain also says he's disturbed that it costs $70 million annually to run the office that oversees the F-35 program.


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/senator-fighter-program-scandal-tragedy-38678658
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