Weapons Programs at Great Risk, Pentagon Analyst Says

Weapons programs such as Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet face “terrible” reductions of Pentagon funding in coming years under automatic spending cuts, according to the military’s independent cost analyst.

“We need to modernize the force,” from new fighter aircraft to submarines, and “we are not going to be able to stay on that path” under the process called sequestration, which will cut about $50 billion a year from planned defense spending, Christine Fox, director of the Pentagon’s primary cost analysis group, said in an interview.