Appearing at a special March 14 Senate hearing on the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine program—the one the Pentagon would like to cut—will be the United Kingdom’s top defense procurement official, Lord (Paul R.) Drayson. Drayson tells the London Telegraph that he plans to pursue more than just the question of whether keeping a second engine source is crucial to the program health. Drayson wants to hammer home the British need to have access to restricted JSF technology—specifically software—citing its role as chief international partner in the JSF program.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
