UK minister: F-35 model from Panetta was a tad on the pricey side

Philip Hammond, Britain's secretary of state for defense, said Thursday he was eager to take delivery of the UK's first F-35 Joint Strike fighter.

During the delivery ceremony at Lockheed Martin, Hammond noted that he had been presented with a model F-35 on Wednesday by U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. “I felt a bit shortchanged for the cost,” Hammond said, jokingly referring to Britain’s $2 billion-plus investment in the program.

Hammond said the UK remains “fully committed to the JSF program” despite delays and rising cost estimates. “The Lightning II will provide us with a flexible capability that will out perform anything we’ve been able to put in the field before.”

- Bob Cox

 

 

Comments

[TiredOfPanderingANDREA]

Hey, Startlegram,

Your comments section on the sequestration story STILL doesn't work -- over 12 hours. Don't you idiots ever test your site??

[TiredOfPanderingANDREA]

Now it's over 35 hours. GET IT FIXED.

[TiredOfPanderingANDREA]

Now it's 60 hours. This is just plain incompetence.