McCain Raises Concerns About F-35 Cost Overruns – He Says That is An Obligation to Taxpayers

November 20, 2011. David Pugliese - Defence Watch

The Harper government says the F-35 project is on track and proceeding along the approved plan with no problems. But U.S. Republican Senator John McCain and some of his Democratic senators have a different view. Postmedia’s Lee Berthiaume has the details from the Halifax security forum:

HALIFAX — U.S. Sen. John McCain and two other members of the powerful Senate armed services committee expressed concerns about the F-35 fighter plane on Saturday, a day after the U.S. defense secretary said his country was committed to the project.

“We’ve been very disturbed over the cost overruns that have characterized this weapon system. It is now the first $1-trillion (weapon) in history,” McCain told reporters, flanked by Democratic senators Mark Udall and Jeanne Shaheen.

“It’s not that we’re opposed to the F-35. We are opposed to out-of-control cost overruns.”

The Conservative government had been hoping U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s commitment to the program on Friday would close the issue of whether Washington would see the F-35 through to full production despite major ongoing problems.

McCain’s comments on the margins of a major international defence conference, however, highlight the tenuous state of the program, particularly since it will be Congress who must approve the billions that will be needed to get the plane off the drawing board and into the hands of the U.S. military and allies like Canada.

“I continue to hope that Lockheed Martin and the military will get their act together and get back on track,” McCain said.

“We want the F-35 to succeed. We’re not opposed to the F-35. But we have obligations to our taxpayers.”