'Straight Talk'

Maj. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the incoming program executive officer for the Joint Strike Fighter program, made some news (and raised some eyebrows) yesterday with what he termed "straight talk" on the history and state of the program. For one thing, he told an audience at the Air Force Association's annual conference in National Harbor, MD, that "the relationship between Lockheed Martin and the JPO and the stakeholders is the worst I have ever seen. The worst I’ve ever seen."

Lockheed Martin later issued a response to Bogdan's comments, via spokesman Mike Rein:

We agree with Maj. Gen. Bogdan that it takes everyone to be fully engaged to be successful. Lockheed Martin will continue to work with the F-35 Joint Program Office team to successfully deliver the F-35’s 5th Generation fighter capabilities to the war fighter. We remain committed to continuing our work to solve program challenges and build on the momentum and success we’ve achieved during the past couple of years.

Look for more about the F-35 and other topics discussed at the Air Force Association conference in this week's issue of Inside the Air Force.