McCain: Have to Reduce F-35 Total Buy
By Aaron Mehta
November 2, 2015
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain, R-Ariz., said Oct. 21 the U.S. will have to cut the numbers of F-35 fighter jets it will purchase.
In a brief comment to reporters, McCain seemed to signal that the total projected buy for the Pentagon’s most costly and ambitious program — 2,443 in total, spread across three models for the Air Force, Marines and Navy — is out of whack with budget realities. He said that cost growth in the program will mean fewer jets overall.
“We’re going to have to reduce the buy,” he said. “The number they are now quoting — there’s just not going to be that many.”
