By NATHAN HODGE
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md.—As Washington flirts with default, the U.S. Marine Corps ferried journalists Friday to a Navy base in southern Maryland to view an exotic spectacle: the new Marine stealth jet, the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, taking off and landing.
According to military officials, this was the media's first chance to see the supersonic aircraft's most unique feature, its ability to hover and land vertically. It was also a chance for the Marine Corps to argue for keeping the program funded in an era of tremendous fiscal uncertainty.
"We're all concerned about the budget, we're all concerned about what's happening financially in our country," said Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps. "And … this airplane is more expensive, it's the most expensive variant [of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter]."
The main question, Gen. Amos continued, was this: "Is the juice worth the squeeze?"
For the Marine Corps, the answer thus far has been a resounding yes. The F-35B is one of three versions of the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter, being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp. The Marine Corps wants the F-35B to replace three aircraft in its inventory. Particularly important is finding a replacement for the AV-8B Harrier, an aging jump-jet that is neither supersonic nor stealthy.
Gen. Amos said the short take-off and vertical landing capability of the F-35B means the U.S. military will continue to be able to operate fixed-wing jets from both big Navy aircraft carriers and smaller amphibious ships, as well from primitive and improvised runways, giving U.S. commanders a wider range of options.
Lt. Col. Fred Schenk, who piloted the jet fighter in the demonstration, said it handled much better than the Harrier. "The airplane, hands down, is much more stable than the Harrier."
But the larger Joint Strike Fighter program is also the Pentagon's costliest procurement project. With a projected price tag of $382 billion, it has been in the budget-cutting crosshairs for months, and critics in Washington have questioned whether the U.S. military can afford a planned fleet of 2,400 Joint Strike Fighters. The Marine Corps version of the aircraft, which is the most technologically complex, has come in for the most scrutiny. Gen. Amos said the Pentagon hasn't yet determined the price of an individual F-35B.
Last year, the co-chairmen of President Barack Obama's deficit panel recommended outright cancellation of the F-35B. Earlier this year, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates put the Marine jet on a two-year "probation" to determine whether it is reliable enough, and affordable enough, for the service to buy in significant numbers.
Despite early development setbacks, Gen. Amos said Marines now "have reason for optimism" on the F-35B. Last year, for instance, the aircraft made 10 vertical landings in testing. This year, the jet has made 119 vertical landings.
In May, the Pentagon predicted that the total cost of owning and operating a fleet of 2,400 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters would top $1 trillion over five decades, causing outrage on Capitol Hill. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) even offered an amendment that proposed putting the entire program on hold if there were additional cost overruns and schedule delays. While that measure didn't progress out of the committee level, Sen. McCain pledged to keep his focus on reining in the costs of the F-35.
"Money can be saved by slowing down the [F-35] program," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the nonprofit Lexington Institute. "But because it's still in development, the logical alternative would be to ask if all three variants are needed."
In addition to giving the press a chance to see a version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the trip to Patuxent River was also a chance for reporters to fly aboard the MV-22 Osprey ($66.6 million apiece) a unique aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter, but cruise at the speed of a fixed-wing turboprop (cost per flight hour: $10,600).
The Marines were quick to point out that the Osprey, like the F-35B, had a long and troubled development. But the Osprey today is flying missions in Afghanistan, and in March, the aircraft rescued the pilot of an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle Fighter that crashed in Libya.
"What's the value of that aircraft to the Marine Corps—and certainly at least one Air Force pilot?" said Lt. Col. Jason Holden in a pre-flight briefing. "Priceless."
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