F-35 Not in Budget Cross Hairs

U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet is not in the budget “cross hairs” as the Pentagon seeks $450 billion in reductions.

Dempsey made the remarks to a military reporters and editors conference today. He said his Oct. 13 remarks to Congress on the F-35 jet were not meant to single out the airplane.

Last month, in his first testimony to Congress as the chairman, Dempsey said the Defense Department could not afford all three models of the F-35 jet, which is estimated to cost about $382 billion and is the largest Pentagon weapons program. The three variants of the jet “creates some fiscal challenges for us,” he said.

“I’m concerned about the three variants and about whether we can afford all three,” he says.

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