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…that’s how many different versions of the tried-and-true F-16 jet fighter have been built, former F-16 builder, Navy secretary and No. 2 Pentagon civilian Gordon England says. In a column in the latest issue of Defense News, he contends the Pentagon’s argument that there is too much concurrency – developing and building a weapon system at the same time — in the F-35 program has it exactly backwards. “It’s clear to me that avoiding concurrency is not a good decision,” he argues. “It sacrifices the substantial savings available from efficient, higher production rates to save relatively smaller estimated retrofit costs.” Perhaps. But it’s worth noting the Pentagon awarded England’s one-time employer a $237,740,000 increase to its F-35 contract Monday to address concurrency-related issues.

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