Lawmakers seek to boost F-35 purchases.

• Author: Harper, Jon
• Position: Budget Matters

A group of 70 lawmakers is pressing appropriators to fund significantly more joint strike fighters than the Pentagon asked for in its fiscal year 2017 budget request. But a contract disagreement has raised concerns about the future of the program.

The Defense Department requested about $8.3 billion to procure 63 F-35s for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps in 2017. The House defense appropriations bill added 11 joint strike fighters to the planned buy. The Senate version added just four aircraft.

In an Oct. 4 letter to the leaders of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, representatives from both parties prodded them to stick with the House blueprint in upcoming budget negotiations.

"As you head into conference [with Senate lawmakers], we write in strong support of the F-35 joint strike fighter and urge you to continue supporting increased production rates at this critical juncture for the program," they said.

The letter was signed by 41 Republicans and 29 Democrats.

"Increasing the production rate is the single most important factor in reducing future aircraft unit costs," they said. "Additionally, significantly increasing production is critical to fielding F-35s in numbers needed to meet the expected threats in the mid-2020s."

The lawmakers expressed concern about cuts to follow-on modernization that were included in the Senate bill.

"These cuts would delay critical ... capability upgrades needed to ensure the F-35 stays ahead of increasing future threats. We urge the conferees to restore as much of this funding as possible," they said.

Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant and the chief operating officer of the non-profit Lexington Institute, said increasing the production rates would help reverse a negative trend.

"The Air Force has slipped off of its production ramp for F-35, and as a result each plane is going to cost more," he said. "That is not the way the business plan was supposed to be implemented."

Thompson believes there is enough support in Congress to fund additional F-35 buys...