The Air Force Air Force should continue funding research and development on a new advanced engine for the F-35A Lightning II, even if it ultimately scraps the work and sticks with the fighter jet’s current engine, Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, the service’s chief of staff, said Wednesday.
The research could result, at least in part, in an improvement in fuel efficiency for the jet, known as the Pentagon’s most costly weapons program ever. But Brown said the Air Force eventually will face a “fork in the road” and must decide whether to move forward on a completely new replacement engine.
Congress is concerned about the issue, and the House Armed Services Committee last week passed a defense policy bill for 2022 that would require the Pentagon to explain how it will put a better engine in the F-35A, which is the jet variant used by the Air Force.
“You’ve got to continue the R&D in certain areas so, that way, you have the options in the future,” Brown said during an online panel Wednesday hosted by Defense News at its annual conference. “If we stop the R&D on this, we basically shut ourselves off from having an option to go forward.”
