The original Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) "winner-takes- all" acquisition strategy has been endorsed by the Rand think-tank, but attention has shifted in the eight months it took to complete the study, and the Bush Administration is questioning whether the Department of Defense can support three fighter programmes.
"Putting one company or consortium of companies in charge of overall production makes the most economic sense. That's because producing such a sophisticated weapon involves high front-end investments and non-recurring costs that probably would not be recovered through price reduction that might result from competitive forces," the report concludes.
The one exception was a recommendation that the DoD should spend money to maintain an alternative sensor, computer and software supplier. This would provide the option to bid the avionics competitively, which could deliver savings of up to 30% compared with 10% for competitive missile bids. This would mirror development of General Electric's F120 as an alternative engine to the Pratt & Whitney JSF-119.
Since the report was commissioned by former defence secretary William Cohen last July, the debate has moved on to "can the US support three (F-22, F/A-18E/F and JSF) overlapping fighter programmes?" A selection of either Boeing or Lockheed Martin for JSF is due in late September around the time defence secretary Donald Rumsfield is set to conclude the new defence review.
To help Boeing and Lockheed Martin during the extended demonstration phase, the government has provided each with an additional $30 million from the JSF engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) budget.
Lockheed Martin says it will use the money to begin pre-EMD activity. The company has finished ground mission testing of its short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) demonstrator. A tear down inspection of the engine is due to last six weeks, leading to a first flight of the X-35B in mid June.
Boeing, meanwhile, was expected to start STOVL transition tests of the X-32B last week.
Source: Flight International
