Adm. Michael Mullen says the decision to terminate the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s alternate engine program—a decision that prompted Congress to hold special hearings this week—was a joint decision between the Navy and the Air Force. (OK, but according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, the idea originated with the Navy.) Mullen believes that technological advances obviate the need for an alternate engine source. He maintains that the reliability and economics added up to a savings of approximately $2 billion—the amount awarded to the alternate team of GE-Rolls Royce.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…