Slate: The proposed F-35 jet engine has until now survived two administrations' attempts to kill it, but the GOP-led may have finally delivered a death blow... to what critics have long said was a wasteful weapons system... The elimination of the engine will save the Pentagon $3 billion over the next few years.
The New York Times: The Joint Strike Fighter is the nation's most expensive weapons program, and eliminating the alternate engine would be one of the most noteworthy cancellations this year... The vote was a victory for President Obama and the defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, who had called the engine 'an unnecessary and extravagant expense.'... As costs have risen on the F-35 program, Mr. Gates has said the alternate engine seemed more a luxury than a necessity. And it is possible that the Pentagon and several allied nations will not end up buying as many of the planes as they expected.
