It’s unlikely that the Air Force will have its first unit of combat-configured F-35A strike fighters available for use in 2016, Vice Adm. David Venlet, F-35 program executive officer, told reporters Thursday. Discussing the F-35 program’s status during a press conference at his office in Arlington, Va., Venlet said it will be up to the service Chiefs to make the call when their respective F-35 models are ready for operations. However, based on the schedule flowing from last year’s F-35 technical baseline review, which re-set F-35 schedules and dollars, 2016 isn’t in the cards for USAF—or the Navy, for that matter, he said. “Last year, they had the [initial operational capability] dates in ’16. Our TBR schedule now has development test completing in ’16, so, realistically, I don’t see [IOC] being in ’16 for the Air Force and Navy,” said Venlet. His remarks echoed those of Air Force senior leaders who told Congress recently that the F-35A’s IOC date would slip from 2016. They said this milestone might not happen until as late as 2018—a critical difference since the F-35’s in-service date will determine whether the Air Force must extend the service lives of some legacy fighters.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.