WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) — The proposed $585 billion Defense Department budget includes $10.6 billion in funding for the procurement of 57 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marines, a program acquisition document released by the Defense Department (DOD) said.
DOD said it wants to procure the three variants of F-35, including 44 Conventional Take Off and Landing F-35s for the Air Force, 9 Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing F-35s for the Marine Corps, and 4 Carrier variant F-35s for the Navy, the document read.
The budget also funds continuing development of the F-35s air system, engine propulsion, testing and follow-on development, according to the DOD.
The F-35 is a single-seat, single-engine strike fighter with stealth technology. The nearly $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program is largely funded by the United States, which plans to buy 2,443 F-35s, according to the aircraft producer Lockheed Martin.
The F-35's development has been beset by delays, cost overruns and technical problems and has been widely criticized for being wasteful.
