Pentagon Hyped $1.2 Billion F-35 Savings Claim, Senators Say
- Independent Pentagon cost office projects half those savings
- Dispute concerns $661 million to buy fighter parts in advance
An F-35 Lightning II
Photographer: Johnny Saldivar/DVIDS
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Senators have chided the Pentagon’s F-35 program office for claiming $1.2 billion in purported savings from buying parts and equipment for Lockheed Martin Corp.’s fighter jet in bulk after an independent analysis found the benefit is likely to be half that.
Program office officials sought and won congressional approval last year to spend $661 million as a down payment on parts for 207 U.S. aircraft to be purchased in 2019 and 2020. The pitch was that this would save $1.2 billion for the U.S. and allies that buy the fighter, split evenly.