The under secretary of the Air Force said this week the service's decision to procure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on a measured ramp is as much about the current uncertainty around the program's operational testing time line and future modernization strategy as it is about cost. The Air Force's fiscal year 2019 budget request maintains essentially the same buy-rate laid out in its FY-18 outlook -- 48 jets in FY-19 and FY-20 and 54 in FY-21, FY-22 and FY-23...
