LOW DOWN

The U.S. Air Force's top leaders say the service will buy several wings of the short takeoff/vertical landing F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, following the news from Lockheed Martin's engineers that the aircraft is shedding more than a ton of weight and gaining thrust.

The service's vision includes changes to the basic short takeoff/vertical landing (Stovl) configuration that could be so extensive as to represent a fourth Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) version--in addition to the design for the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B, the USAF F-35A and the U.S. Navy F-35C. But program managers have adamantly rejected the notion, so far, of deviating from the stated program plan.

Air Force Secretary James G. Roche says the service will buy "hundreds" of the Stovl F-35Bs in addition to the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35As that will be bought in larger numbers. Stovl aircraft are needed to operate from short, unprepared airstrips near the front. With each wing requiring roughly 100 aircraft, the ground support force would equate to at least two wings, but more likely four or more.

"We learned in Afghanistan and Iraq the importance of air support to land forces from austere locations," Roche told those attending the Air Force Assn. convention. "We must be rapidly available to land forces, particularly the American Army. That's why we will procure a short takeoff/vertical landing version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter."

Adding to the battlefield impact of new and modernized aircraft, "the next step is to perfect our ability to engage moving targets with precise munitions as well as increasing precision from both lighter and smaller but more effective weapons," he said.

While Roche and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper would only say that the F-35B buy would be in the hundreds, the final number depends on how the Army reorganizes itself into smaller, more widely dispersed units, Jumper says.

USAF will only need to see broad outlines of the Army strategy, though, before committing on a Stovl plan, says Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hal Hornburg. A decision on how to proceed isn't needed until 2006, he added.

The average cost of the CTOL F-35 is now $45 million each, says Rear Adm. Steve Enewold, the Pentagon's program executive official. The Stovl for the Marine Corps and the larger deck carrier design for the Navy are now in the $55-60 million range, he said. That could mean that the Air Force would have to buy fewer total F-35s. It also echoes broader decisions about reducing USAF's force structure in the next several years.

Jumper contends that paying more to buy the F-35B capability is both good leadership and good finance.