US Marines declare F-35 squadron ready for combat, $1 trillion later

9 years ago | Posted in: Technology | 579 Views

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General Joseph Dunford has declared an initial squadron of 10 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35B fighter jets ready for combat, marking a key milestone for the Pentagon’s biggest weapons program, the Pentagon said Friday.

The decision makes the Marines the first U.S. military service to declare an “initial operational capability” for the stealth supersonic F-35 fighter under the arms program that first kicked off in 2001. Although the official price tag for the program is $391 billion, recent reports have estimated that the total cost to the Pentagon will be closer to $1.4 trillion, making it the most expensive weapons program in American history.

“It is an incredibly advanced aircraft, arguably the most advanced in the world,” Peter W. Singer, a strategist at the New America Foundation and co-author of the recent book Ghost Fleet, told Al Jazeera over email. “It is also incredibly expensive, arguably the most expensive weapons program in all of human history.”.. see more

source: America Aljazeera

Tags: , ,

Share it.

Leave a Reply

Related Posts