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F-35 Development A "Scandal And A Tragedy"
The development of the F-35 fighter jet has been slammed as a "scandal and a tragedy".
The Ministry of Defence has ordered 138 of the US-built Joint Strike Fighter jets, which have been beset by spiralling costs and delays.
US Senator John McCain said it had "been both a scandal and a tragedy with respect to cost, schedule and performance".
The production costs have almost doubled to £275 billion for 2,457 of the stealth jets.
Mr McCain called the increase "disgraceful" and said the delays meant "the last F-35 will be delivered in 2040".
It had originally been promised that over 1,000 planes would have been built by this year but so far only 179 have been delivered.
In the video RAF Squadron Leader Nev Kingdon describes flying the aircraft as "brilliant".
It's expected to make its first appearance at UK airshows this summer.
The Joint Strike Fighter program is the largest and most expensive acquisition program in the history of the US Department of Defence.
The single-seat F-35 is intended to be extremely versatile, suited for air-to-air combat, air-to-ground strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
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