President Trump has nominated a Navy admiral to lead the $379 billion F-35 acquisition, taking over from Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, who reportedly is retiring. Navy Rear Adm. Mathias Winter has also been recommended for promotion to the rank of vice admiral, the Pentagon announced on March 28.
Previously chief of naval research, Winter will serve as director of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office (JPO) in Arlington, Va., pending Senate confirmation. The Navy announced Winter’s assignment as F-35 JPO deputy director last August; he started that job in December.
The Navy’s F-35C carrier variant is the last of three versions of the fifth-generation fighter to achieve combat readiness, a status the service expects to reach in 2019. The Marine Corps declared initial operational capability (IOC) of the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant in July 2015; the Air Force declared IOC of the F-35A conventional variant last August.
Winter served operational tours as an A-6E Intruder bombardier/navigator and was later appointed commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, assistant commander for test and evaluation with the Naval Air Systems Command and program executive officer (PEO) for unmanned aviation and strike weapons.
The outspoken Bogdan was appointed F-35 deputy program executive officer in July 2012, then became PEO in December that year. Previously, he served three years as PEO and program director of the Air Force's KC-46 tanker modernization directorate.
After declaring the relationship between the Pentagon and F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin “the worst I’ve ever seen,” early in his tenure, Bogdan is credited for righting a program plagued by technical problems and cost and schedule overruns. The parties are currently negotiating an 11th low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot of fighters as the program transitions from a prolonged 15-year system development and demonstration phase.
The unit cost of the F-35A and its Pratt & Whitney F135 engine fell to $94.6 million in the LRIP 10 contract announced last month—the first time the A-model dipped below $100 million. According to Lockheed Martin, the LRIP 10 contract reflects an average airframe unit cost that is approximately 8 percent lower than the LRIP 9 contract signed last year, and a 62 percent reduction since LRIP 1.
At the company’s annual media day on March 21, CEO Marillyn Hewson said President Trump weighed in to hasten the LRIP 10 negotiations. “What he did do is help to accelerate negotiations and put a sharper focus on price,” Hewson said. “His emphasis and his engagement did absolutely make a difference.”
Following earlier criticism of the program cost by Trump, however, Defense Secretary James Mattis in late January ordered the JPO to explore further cost-cutting opportunities and to compare the operational capabilities of the F-35C with an improved Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a review that is ongoing.
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