Delayed testing could add $1 billion to cost of F-35
By Rebecca Kheel
April 24, 2017
Delayed testing could add more than $1 billion to the cost of the F-35 fighter jet program, according to a government watchdog.
In a report released Monday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended completing developmental testing before making “significant new investments” in the program.
“Cascading F-35 testing delays could cost the Department of Defense (DOD) over a billion dollars more than currently budgeted to complete development of the F-35 baseline program,” the report says.
Critics have long slammed Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program, estimated to cost $400 billion for 2,457 planes, as a costly boondoggle.
President Trump was among the critics, tweeting prior to his inauguration that the costs of the program were “out of control.”