Funding an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) would cost American taxpayers at least $7.2 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The cost to our national security would be even greater.  Air Force General Mark Shackelford testified before a Senate subcommittee on June 9, 2009 that funding an alternate engine would mean cutting two to four JSF aircraft this year and as many as 53 in the next five years.  In other words, the alternate engine would siphon off funds from the very aircraft it is supposed to power and that is designed to serve as a cornerstone of our national defense in the years ahead.

CBS News reported that the U.S. Air Force and two independent panels have concluded that an alternate engine is “not necessary and not affordable” and that the alleged savings from creating a “mock competition” will never be achieved.

America’s troops and taxpayers can’t afford this kind of high-flying waste.

I demand a halt to the alternate engine.  It is simply indefensible.