Pentagon's interim leader strongly criticizes F-35 design and manufacturing program
At high-level meetings at the Pentagon, Mr. Patrick Shanahan, the interim leader of the US military, made strong criticisms of Lockheed Martin's program related to the F-35 fighter jet, according to the US publication Politico.
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| Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II aircraft. Photo: Flickr/ Lockheed Martin |
According to one of the publication's interlocutors, Mr. Shanakhan used obscene words about the F-35 and said that the Lockheed Martin corporation does not know how to implement the program to create a fifth-generation fighter, Politico wrote.
In fact, since he was Deputy Secretary of Defense, at department meetings, Mr. Shanakhan has repeatedly made very negative statements about the F-35 design and manufacturing program, saying that it was a "bad" program, and at the same time criticized the director of Lockheed Martin, according to another source.
Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II program has become the most expensive in U.S. arms production history, costing about half a trillion dollars. Developers have run up hundreds of billions of dollars over budget, and the fighter is seven years behind schedule.
At the same time, the media has also repeatedly reported on various technical problems with this type of aircraft. Specifically, the National Interest said that due to design characteristics, the F-35 is susceptible to lightning strikes.
