[quote][b][url=/v3/forum/%C3%A9tats-unis-31/topic/f-35-news-195/?post=45788#post-45788]pilou[/url] a dit le 11/01/2010 à 12:15 :[/b]

Ca y est, ça commence !  :mrgreen: 

[url=http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/111170/gates-delays-jsf-purchases%2C-shifts-funds-to-development.html]Gates Calls for Delay in Pentagon Purchases of Lockheed F-35s[/url]

[quote]Defense Secretary Robert Gates [u]has ordered a delay in the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 program, cutting the Pentagon’s planned purchases by 10 aircraft in fiscal 2011 and a total of 122 through 2015, according to a budget document[/u]. 

[u]More than $2.8 billion that was budgeted earlier to buy the military’s next-generation fighter would instead be used to continue its development.[/u] 

The delay is a setback for both Gates and Lockheed. 

The defense secretary said last year he wanted to accelerate jet purchases to complete the military’s most expensive weapons program sooner and possibly save money. 

For Lockheed, the world’s largest defense contractor, accelerated purchases would be more profitable because a program’s production phase brings in more revenue than research and development. In addition, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company faces negotiations that may require it to absorb a share of cost overruns during what will likely be an extended development phase. The company now absorbs no overrun costs. 

Along with the delay in Lockheed’s program, [u]Gates is calling for spending a total of $2.4 billion in 2011 and 2012 to buy 26 F/A-18E/F planes that are capable of jamming enemy radar[/u]. Those aircraft are produced by Boeing Co., the second-largest defense contractor. 

Navy officials had said previously that if the F-35 program slipped, they would press for more F-18s to mitigate a “fighter gap” caused by their aging, carrier-based jets. 

Cuts Itemized 

Gates’s order is in an unreleased document he signed Dec. 23 that is the basis for the new defense budget to be released Feb. 1. The document was widely distributed within the Pentagon. 

He directed the shift from the procurement budget to development of $320 million in fiscal 2011; $544 million in 2012; $716 million in fiscal 2013; $872 million in fiscal 2014 and $356 million in 2015, according to the document. 


Click [url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aK6UwiltYSBU]here[/url] for the full article, on the Bloomberg website. 
[/quote][/quote]