F-35 ramp-up to present logistics challenge.

• Position: From the National Defense Blog

* As if producing cutting-edge warplanes weren't hard enough, what comes next--maintenance and logistics support--can be an even more daunting challenge.

The F-35 joint strike fighter certainly will present this test to the Pentagon as manufacturing of the U.S. military's newest combat jet ramps up from a few dozen to more than a hundred per year. The fleet is projected to grow from 154 today to more than 1,000 fighters in the next four years. And even if the Defense Department and manufacturer Lockheed Martin manage to fix all the development glitches that still dog the airplane, there are worries about the government and the industry's capacity to keep the fleet in working order after F-35 squadrons around the world start operating the planes.

The F-35 program executive officer, Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, has sounded alarms in recent months about the coming logistics crunch. The plan is to triple the production and fielding rate in just three years, from about three to four dozen...