News Release

December 5, 2002

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Success of Joint Strike Fighter Hinges on Full Support of Military
Project has largely avoided the mistakes of Robert McNamara's doomed TFX program

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's plan to develop a multiuse fighter, the Joint Strike Fighter, for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps has a good chance of succeeding because the department has avoided the mistakes of the disastrous 1960's Tactical Fighter Experimental program, according to a new Cato Institute study.

However, author Christopher Preble cautions in "Joint Strike Fighter: Can a Multiservice Fighter Program Succeed," that Defense Department officials need to ensure that the services continue their support for the JSF, also known as the F-35, and the program is kept within cost estimates.

"Because the JSF program, has, to date, succeeded in avoiding many of the mistakes of the past, the F-35 might actually deliver on its promise of low cost and high performance," writes Preble, a former naval officer who has written on national defense for a number of publications.

According to Preble, unlike the TFX, the JSF program has seen far greater collaboration among the three services, and avoided the politicization and allegations of conflicts of interest that plagued the TFX.

The Air Force remains committed to the F-22 and the Navy to its F/A-18E/F. However, the two services should concentrate their resources on the JSF because it provides stealth capabilities at a fraction of the cost of the Raptor and the Super Hornet, argues Preble.

"The JSF, if it is more successful than the TFX, has the revolutionary potential to allow the services to customize their aircraft designs, while saving the taxpayers significant sums of money by using common parts." Preble writes. "All three services must be put on notice to make the JSF work."

Preble further argues that the JSF, especially the Marine Corps' short take-off and vertical landing variant, is a transformational aircraft that would serve the military well in future wars where the operational environment "raises questions about the availability of survivable, hardened runways from which conventional takeoff and landing aircraft can operate."

"Joint Strike Fighter: Can a Multiservice Fighter Program Succeed"