Vice Adm. David Venlet was tapped by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to head the Joint Strike Fighter program after his staff produced a "risk assessment" of the F-35 program last year warning that the JSF aircraft faced an increased chance of crashing during training, in addition to the risk of runaway costs that might impact other modernization efforts, according to an October 2009 briefing and military officials. The briefing also cautioned against continued reliance on prime contractor Lockheed Martin to...
