SURRY HILLS, Australia, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to be bought for the Australian air force will cost about $90 million apiece, officials said.
The fighter's soaring costs have produced rising consternation in Australia, with a number of politicians questioning whether the air force can afford to purchase the 100 fifth-generation stealth aircraft it initially intended to buy.
Australia had originally intended to purchase up to 100 of the Joint Strike Fighter jets, officially known as the F-35 Lightning ll, to replace both its U.S. built McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet jet fighters and its already retired General Dynamics F-111 bomber fleet.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, principal executive of the Pentagon's JSF Program Office, candidly addressed the issue of F-35 cost overruns recently met with Australian defense officials at the Avalon air show in Melbourne, Victoria.
Bogdan said that his survey of the JSF program had uncovered "ugly" problems with the program but that his office had sought to have the F-35 manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, to share the costs of fixing faults and covering delays, The Australian reported Thursday.
Bogdan said his role wasn't to be a cheerleader for the F-35, remarking that the JSF would probably cost Australia $90 million-$92 million apiece.
Read the full story at UPI