{"id":30908,"date":"2019-10-18T17:02:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T17:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/18\/the-f-35-may-hit-full-rate-production-more-than-a-year-late\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:35:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:35:18","slug":"the-f-35-may-hit-full-rate-production-more-than-a-year-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/10\/18\/the-f-35-may-hit-full-rate-production-more-than-a-year-late\/","title":{"rendered":"The F-35 jet might hit full-rate production more than a year late"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Defense Department will not clear the F-35 fighter jet for full-rate production this year,<\/a> and it may even have to push that milestone as far as January 2021, the Pentagon\u2019s acquisition executive said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon had intended to make a full-rate production decision \u2014 also known as Milestone C \u2014 by the end of 2019. But because the Joint Simulation Environment continues to face delays in its own development,<\/a> the Defense Department will have to defer that milestone by as many as 13 months, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord told reporters during a news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Joint Simulation Environment, or JSE, is needed to conduct simulated evaluations of the F-35 in a range of high-threat scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe actually had signed out of the JPO [F-35 Joint Program Office] earlier this week a program deviation report that documented expected schedule threshold breach in the Milestone C full-rate production decision of up to 13 months,\u201d Lord said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t