In the midst of an apocalyptic budget battle in Washington, could there actually be good news for an Atlanta-area defense contractor?
Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia at the Teal Group in Washington says, let's face it. "The end of the F-22 program certainly hit Marietta hard."
But now comes word from Washington that another Lockheed-Martin fighter, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), may finally be coming back into favor at the Pentagon after a decade on the shelf.
"Optimism is called for in the F-35, especially after almost a decade in the wilderness," he points out.
Aboulafia is talking about a wilderness teeming with budget concerns because it's an untried program that hasn't been given full production clearance. But Aboulafia says that clearance appears to be on the way from Washington.
The F-35 is an air superiority fighter capable that comes in both land-and carrier-based variants. It has been sought after by US allies, but has been relegated a low priority by the Pentagon, which has been much more interested in asymmetrical warfare over the past decade. The budget-busting cycle of an experimental plane looking for full-production appears to be coming to an end.
"Production numbers increase, therefore costs drop and more production is seen," Aboulafia predicts. Ramped up production of the F-35 could begin in Marietta by the middle of next year.