Today, Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, made the following remarks on the hearing titled "Update on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program:"
"The subcommittee meets today in open session to receive testimony on the current status of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.
I’d like to welcome our witnesses: • Lieutenant General Christopher C. Bogdan, F-35 Program Executive Officer, and • Major General Jeffery L. Harrigian, Director of the Air Force F-35 Integration Office.
Thank you both for your service and we look forward to your testimony today.
This hearing continues the committee’s ongoing oversight of the F-35 program since the program officially began in 2001.
We all know the F-35 is a complex program that has experienced issues with cost, schedule and performance through its development.
This subcommittee has held numerous hearings and briefings to better understand the critical need for 5th generation strike fighter capability and to understand the issues facing the program.
Most recently the subcommittee visited Eglin Air Force Base in March where we were able to meet with both pilots and maintenance personnel for the JSF.
It’s through this ongoing Committee oversight that we have identified issues relating to the program and in turn we have worked with the Department to help develop corrective actions to ensure the program remains on track.
For example:
In fiscal year 2014, the subcommittee learned of software development problems and recommended legislation that would establish a team to review the F-35’s software development program and make recommendations to fix these problems.
For fiscal year 2015, the committee recommended legislation that would continue the Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessments and analysis of the development, testing and production of F-35 aircraft.
During our visit at Eglin Air Force Base, the Subcommittee learned of issues with the F-35 the maintenance system known as the autonomic logistics information system or “ALIS”.
As a result, the subcommittee included a provision in its mark of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016 that would require the GAO to review the ALIS and provide a report to the congressional defense committees by April 1, 2016.
The committee also recommended a provision that would require a review of the F-35’s engine program by a federally-funded research and development center to ensure that future engines will not be subject to the failure that caused an F-35 engine fire on take-off a year ago last June.
Each of the subcommittee’s legislative recommendations over the past three years have been adopted in the annual National Defense Authorization Acts.
Over the past month, the subcommittee has learned that the ejection seat does not meet the design specifications for lighter weight pilots. The specification for the ejection seat is that it needs to be able to accommodate a safe escape at pilot weights of 103 to 245 pounds. We understand that until this deficiency is corrected, pilots weighing less than 136 pounds will not fly the F-35 due to a higher risk of serious injury that could result from having to eject. We expect to hear from our witnesses on how they plan to get this problem corrected.
In closing, while strong oversight of the F-35 remains necessary I find the value of a fifth generation stealth aircraft like the F-35 in future conflicts to be absolutely critical to successfully address emerging threats and maintaining air dominance in any overseas contingency operation.
I look forward to our witness’ testimony today and expect to gain a better understanding of the follow-up actions currently being taken to address the issues identified as a result of our delegation visit to Eglin."
