So the F-35 could cost another billion to develop?

via AOL Defense.

Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, head of the JPO, in GAO report terms, does not concur. “We do not agree with the GAO’s assessment that an additional billion dollars will be needed to complete SDD. The remaining cost to complete the F-35’s $55 billion development program is estimated to be $2.3 billion – money which was already budgeted for the program. If there is a delay to the completion of SDD, the Department has directed the JPO to maintain the resources necessary to continue SDD flight testing to May 2018,” Bogdan says in a statement. “Should it be necessary for flight testing to go beyond February 2018 to May 2018, the JPO will hold $100 million of Follow-on-Modernization (FoM) funding in fiscal year (FY) 2018 to pay for this added flight testing. Use of this internal funding will result in no impact to any other DoD programs or the Services/DoD’s budget requirements.”
The GAO also wants to delay the Block 4 software’s Request For Proposal “at least until developmental testing is complete and all associated capabilities have been verified to work as intended.”

Story here. 

Two points.

1.  Do these people have no shame?  They can do all the dog and pony show imaginable but if the plane doesn't work it doesn't work.  From the looks of things they won't even get the go to war soft ware together on schedule.  All the airshow performances and weak blue vs. red exercises can't change that fact.

2.  I'm intrigued by the highlighted portion.  Why would Bogdan state that this internal funding would not have an impact on other DoD programs or service budgets IF IT HADN'T AFFECTED THEM IN THE PAST!!!!

We need a complete audit of the DoD.  I'm a defense supporter but I have serious misgivings about how the taxpayers dollar is being spent.  Additionally I have issues with the way that these programs are being presented to the public.  For a gulf to be this large between what the GAO is saying and the Program Office is more than problematic.

To put it simply?

They both can't be right so someone is lying.