Lockheed Martin says it will continue to bring down the hourly costs of operating the F-35 fighter jet, while continuing to address the problems that have been plaguing the program. Some of those issues involve the supply chain and others speak to reliability.
The head of the program was at the Paris Air Show this week, where he told reporters that Lockheed will continue addressing the issues, some of them previously unreported.
We spoke with Cipher Brief expert and Former Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James about the problems the program has been facing and the prospects for success.
The Cipher Brief: What do you make of the latest reports that the Pentagon now has some serious, and previously unreported problems that they need to fix before the end of the year, when they need to make a decision on full-scale production of the F-35?
James: I'm personally disappointed to learn about all these additional problems with the F-35. It is a phenomenal new capability that we do very much need in our inventory, and although every time the United States pushes the envelope on new technology there are always problems - there are always bugs that need to be worked through - it does seem that the F-35 has had more than its fair share over a long period of time. We're very invested in it, however, and we have to see it through. I would also note reports that the most recent production lot negotiation has produced significant savings for the next production lot purchase of F-35s. I think that was a bit of positive news that we can also reflect on. It's been too expensive, as weapons systems go, and the fact that the cost and the price per plane has been coming down over time at least is a bit of positive news.
The Cipher Brief: There has been some criticism around the transparency of the F-35 program procurement process. How can DOD do a better job providing transparency on major development programs to avoid the level of negative publicity we’ve seen with the F-35?
James: When it comes to bad news it never gets better with age, so whether you're talking about a weapons system or a personnel issue, it never gets better. I'm a believer that transparency is the best policy, and it is best to make public yourself this sort of news, and that way you can give it context. Now, I'm sure that the DOD would, first and foremost, point out that they would give context around these latest deficiencies vis-à-vis perhaps some other weapons systems, which we take for granted now as being terribly important in the inventory, and we forget that back when they were in development they went through difficulties as well.
In other words, if we can get to a point of greater transparency, we can give it that context so that when the news hits at least people know how to frame it. I am a believer in that, and I think there has been perhaps somewhat less transparency, there have been fewer press conferences. There has just been more of a hesitation to work with the press that I have seen in this Department of Defense and this administration than was the case when I was there.
The Cipher Brief: Turkey’s involvement in the F-35 program has grown quite complicated as it relates to Turkey’s announced plan to acquire the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. What are your thoughts on the U.S.'s threat to potentially remove Turkey from utilizing the F-35 and how do you see this developing in the near term?
James: I think it is the right move to say to Turkey, if you do acquire the Russian S-400 then you simply will not be able to participate any longer in the F-35 program. I think that's the right policy decision. I do think the U.S. government has tried to negotiate, tried to send a signal, tried to talk with, we tried all those things with Turkey seemingly to no avail so, now that the action has been announced that they will be suspended. And, by the way, I believe that doesn't kick in for several months, so that still allows some breathing room that maybe there's a way to resolve this. But, ultimately, if there is no resolution, I do agree with the policy decision that we will simply have to no longer deal with Turkey as a partner on this program.
The Cipher Brief: What lessons learned from the F-35 program should we take away that might inform future development, especially in those areas where we are pushing the envelope in terms of new technology and capabilities?
James: In this case, pushing the envelope is the fusion of data and the generation-skipping capabilities of the plane. The fact that it has millions and millions of lines of software code also makes it different. Every aircraft depends on software to a degree, but the F-35 is a step above all of the others, and that adds complexity to it. I would say the number one lesson learned here is that concurrency is not working very well for us. By that I mean you're developing and you're producing in a near simultaneous fashion because what that means is you're producing certain aircraft that simply aren't working at the level of capability that you expect, and then you have to go back, and you have to retrofit, and you have to rediscover and fix things. And that degree of concurrency that's been going on has clearly not worked well, so that to me is the number one lesson learned. We shouldn't do that again in the future.
The Cipher Brief: Do you feel like the reason concurrency isn’t working is due to the complexity of what DoD is trying to build? Or, is it a product of the government procurement system just not really being able to move fast enough, at the speed of innovation?
James: I think it probably does relate a great deal to the complexity. It also relates to, in retrospect, the acquisition strategy. The acquisition strategy calls for this degree of concurrency, and that is because the decision-makers at the time, believed in good faith that you could do both at once. Now, if it were a less complicated system, perhaps they would've been right, but when you marry up the complexity with the degree of concurrency that they built into the acquisition strategy it just doesn't work very well.
Deborah Lee James has over 30 years of senior level homeland and national security experience in the federal government and private sector. She is also the author of Aim High: Chart Your Course and Find Success.
