U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Mat Winter assumed command of the F-35 Lightning II program on May 25, the Department of Defense announced. He replaces Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan as program executive officer (PEO) of the $379 billion fighter procurement.
Bogdan was appointed F-35 deputy PEO in July 2012, then became PEO in December that year. His departure from the tri-service acquisition program coincides with his retirement from the Air Force after 34 years. During a change of command ceremony at Fort Myer, Virginia, Winter commended his “bold, effective and decisive” leadership of the F-35 effort.
President Donald Trump nominated Winter to serve as PEO in March, the Pentagon announced at the time. Previously chief of naval research, he was assigned to serve as the F-35 program deputy director last August and started that job in December.
The Lockheed Martin-built F-35 is nearing the end of its system development and demonstration phase started in 2001. The schedule calls for final, Block 3F software to be delivered and flight-tested by early next year, the DOD’s F-35 Joint Program Office has said.
The Navy’s F-35C carrier variant is the last of three versions of the fifth-generation fighter to achieve combat readiness, a status the service expects to reach in 2018. The Marine Corps declared initial operational capability (IOC) of the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant in July 2015; the Air Force declared IOC of the F-35A conventional variant last August.
Deliveries have started to most of the eight other nations considered F-35 partners, as well as to foreign military sales customers Israel and Japan.
“It’s been an honor to serve alongside so many great leaders and support our nation and allies,” Bogdan stated. “The F-35 weapon system is now operational and forward deployed. The size of the fleet continues to grow and we are rapidly expanding its capability. The F-35 will form the backbone of United States air combat superiority for decades to come and I know the program is in good hands as we transition leadership to Vice Adm. Winter.”
Comments
Don Bacon
May 30, 2017 - 10:46pm
No pre-production F-35 prototypes have achieved "combat readiness." The A and B variants can't shoot, fire missiles or drop bombs, which is why they are being kept out of combat. The initial operational capability (IOC) declarations were only for show -- didn't mean anything. The Air Force is parking most of its prototypes in the Arizona sun, in "international training squadrons," 144 aircraft in six useless squadrons at about $200m per plane, five for a billion . . . Those budget cuts are killing us!
The F-35 system is still deep in development with the project unable to provide 23 capable aircraft for initial operational test and evaluation next year, according to Bogdan's recent Senate testimony. Then comes the Milestone C production decision, years away yet. All the planes being bought now will have to be modified to final design. In this year's budget are lists of over 200 "highest priority" necessary modifications.