Another Rough Week for the JSF

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the Internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River economic community. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The Joint Strike Fighter program manager accuses Lockheed and Pratt & Whitney of trying to “squeeze every nickle” out of the program, Fox Business reports. Lockheed lays of 68 workers at its F-35 plant, according to the Dallas Business Journal. Lockheed tells Reuters that the lithium-ion battery in the F-35 is not to blame for the smoking cockpit incident being investigated, and Pratt rules out the worst case scenario for the engine blade crack incident, according to Reuters. F-35 flights should resume soon, according to Defence Talk.

F-35 Lightning II photo courtesy of Rob Shenk

The White House and several Senators oppose a bill that would allow DoD budget authority to move money around after sequestration cuts hit Friday, according to Defense News. Politico says House Speaker John Boehner is betting that the White House will cave in and come back to the bargaining table.

Northrop is targeting April for the first flight of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, FlightGlobal reports.

The Senate approves the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, AOL Defense reports. Leon Panetta sends out a farewell message.

John Lehman and Gary Roughead urge the House Armed Services Committee to slash the Navy’s procurement bureaucracy, according to AOL Defense. Time takes a look at the rapid rise of ID/IQ contracts in DoD.

The Navy launches an energy-saving campaign.

Officials crack down on extravagant military spending … in China, according to Defence Talk.