US withholds funds from Lockheed over F-35 problem

The Pentagon will withhold 614 million dollars in fees from Lockheed Martin over cost overruns and delays in the F-35 fighter jet program.

The Pentagon will withhold 614 million dollars in fees from Lockheed Martin over cost overruns and delays in the F-35 fighter jet program, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday.

''The progress and performance of the F-35 over the past two years has not been what it should'' be, said Gates, saying ''a number of key goals and benchmarks were not met.''

Gates said he took the decision because ''the taxpayer should not have to bear the entire burden of getting the JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) program back on track.''

The move was taken with the agreement of the lead contractor, Lockheed Martin, he told a news conference to present the Pentagon's defense budget.

Gates said the Defense Department also bore blame for the ''troubling performance record'' of the Joint Strike Fighter, saying he would install new leadership of the Pentagon office overseeing the program.

The F-35 is the most expensive weapons program in the Pentagon's vast 708 billion dollar budget, and contractors have repeatedly fallen behind on production and cost schedules.

Gates, who has not hesitated to sack a number of top officers and officials during his tenure as defense secretary since 2006, said the move was part of his effort to set a tone that ''when things go wrong, people will be held accountable.''

Despite recent problems, the F-35 program had been ''restructured'' and the aircraft was on track ''to become the backbone of US air superiority for the next generation,'' Gates told a news conference.

The administration's 2011 defense budget unveiled Monday calls for ''robust funding'' of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, with 10.7 billion for 42 aircraft.

Gates also warned that he would recommend that President Barack Obama veto any attempt by Congress to fund an alternate engine for the F-35 as well for additional C-17 transport planes.

Any benefits to building an alternate engine for the F-35 would be ''offset by excess costs, complexity, and associated risks,'' he said.

As for the C-17 aircraft, he said studies had shown that ''the Air Force already has more of these aircraft than it needs.''

He said he was aware of political pressure in Congress to fund the C-17 and the second engine for the F-35, but he added: ''Let me be very clear: I will strongly recommend that the president veto any legislation that sustains the unnecessary continuation of these two programs.''