WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet is on track to meet the Marine Corps's July target to declare the jet ready for combat use, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said Thursday.
The F-35 B-model, which can take off from shorter runways and land like a helicopter, was making good progress, Mabus told reporters after a speech to the Surface Navy Association.
He said he expected it to meet the Marine Corps's target date, a statement echoed by a Marine Corps spokesman.
He said the Navy still expected to declare the F-35 C-model, which is designed for use on aircraft carriers, ready for combat use by the end of the decade, as planned. The Navy tested the F-35C on board a ship for the first time in November.
The Navy had more time before it needed to declare the plane ready for combat use, or that it had achieved an initial operational capability, but it remained committed to that part of the F-35 program as well, Mabus said.
"We’re not lukewarm about the F-35 in terms of the need for it in the fleet, and the fact that it’s going to form the backbone of our carrier air for a long time," he said.
Mabus said the Navy was also looking at whether it needed additional EA-18G Growler electronic attack planes built by Boeing Co, since it was now the only military service providing that electronic attack capability.
"How many do you need to do all the electronic attack that you need?" Mabus said.
He declined to discuss the Pentagon's fiscal 2016 budget request, which is due to be delivered to Congress on Feb. 2, but his comment suggested the Navy could include additional Growlers in its budget request, or add them to an "unfunded priority" list usually sent separately to U.S. lawmakers as they debate the administration's budget proposal.
The Navy's fiscal 2015 base budget request did not include any of the Boeing planes, but it added 22 Growlers to its unfunded wish list. Congress ultimately funded 15 planes as part of the fiscal 2015 budget.
Boeing is working with the Navy on how to stretch production of its F/A-18 and EA-18 military aircraft in St. Louis past 2016. The 15 planes added to the budget in 2015 could make production last through 2017 if the Navy agrees to a slower delivery schedule.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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