, On 15 March 2007 the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual report to the US Congress on the progress of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program.
The GAO Report acknowledged progress in a number of areas, including:
– Completion of the Program re-baselining;
– Flight of the first test aircraft;
– Analysis which shows that the JSF is meeting all performance specifications, except for one, which is dependent on progress on another program;
– Positive progress in developing production facilities; and
– The benefits of some concurrency between testing and production.
The GAO report also identified a number of cost increases but many of these are outside the control of the JSF Program and include general economic factors, increases in the cost of materials, etc.
Australian media are incorrectly reporting that the cost of the JSF has risen to US$112 million. This reporting is based on a misinterpretation of the figure quoted in the GAO report.
To determine the cost of individual aircraft the figure needs to be discounted because:
– It includes development costs;
– It is based on a
