OSD says Navy can't take a 3 year break from the F-35C

The F-35C is already a disaster.

It has numerous faults; it is 15 percent overweight from its 2002 design assumptions (which means performance, flight safety and combat trade-offs), 12 years after contract award.

And now, DOD says that the Navy--who has wanted to ditch the F-35C for sometime--can't take a break on the program.

OSD TOLD THE NAVY: YOU CAN’T TAKE A ‘BREAK’ FROM THE F-35C: According to a congressional source, in its 2015 budget proposal, the Navy asked to take a three-year “break” from its production of the F-35C, its variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. Concerned this was a first step toward walking away from the program permanently, OSD told the Navy: no way.

It’s an open secret that the Navy would prefer to invest more in its F-18 fighters rather than buy the F-35C. But if the Navy pulled out of the program, the unit cost — already under scrutiny — would go up for the Air Force and the Marine Corps.

H/T- Solomon