Best Of: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Game-Changer or Procurement Nightmare?

For this year’s Thanksgiving Day feature, The Cipher Brief revisits its coverage of the innovation and procurement challenges behind the F-35 Lighting II. As production ramps up and the U.S. and its coalition partners take delivery, we reexamine what lessons can be learned from the procurement process and whether or not the qualitative advantage of the F-35 is something to be thankful for.

The F-35 Joint Strike fighter is moving inexorably into service, but the chronically delayed program has been a procurement nightmare, with significant cost over runs and questionable performance ability. While the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force have declared that the fifth generation aircraft has reached initial operation capability and several coalition partners have taken delivery of their first jets, significant doubts remain over the aircraft’s capabilities. A recent memo from the Pentagon’s chief weapons inspector stated, “Achieving full combat capability with the Joint Strike Fighter is at substantial risk.”