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Critics: Time to bail on Navy JSF

Is it the beginning of the end for the Navy’s F-35C?

A steady string of bad news for the Joint Strike Fighter program — which includes the Navy’s carrier variant — has some observers suggesting the service abandon its plans to purchase more than 300 of the fifth-generation jets to fill out the future fighter fleet.

The alternative: Continue buying F/A-18E/F Super Hornets from Boeing that have been on carrier decks for almost a decade.

“I think the Navy needs to walk away from the F-35C based on affordability concerns and continue with the Super Hornet,” said one congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still being intensely debated on Capitol Hill.

Navy support for the F-35C suffered in mid-March, when Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the service is open to buying more Super Hornets. The Navy had planned to stop buying Super Hornets in 2013 with the intention of replenishing the fighter fleet with JSFs starting in 2014.

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