President ial election, lots of thinks to talk about there, talk about people in the room. Talk about obamas legacy a little bit. We will those are the big things, i guess, some of the big areas. Peter just as a reminder, youre going to be bigtime, this is going to be broadcast live on cspan. Larry i know, absolutely. Cspan is so big, it doesnt need h. D. Thats how i like to think of cspan, it doesnt need it. Cspan, you want hfpblg d. , we dont need it. Were cspan, people will watch anyway. Thats how bad cspan is, how bad ass cspan is. Peter Larry Wilmore is not only the host of the nightly show, he is an author and also an executive producer. Whats your connection with the tv show blackish . Larry i helped do the pilot and exec produced the first several episodes. When we were producing the pilot, i got the call to do this show. I wasnt able to finish the whole season. I worked with the creator of the show and we had a great time. Kenya had such a brilliant idea with that and based on his life, too, the show blackish and he and Anthony Anderson just had, were already a great Collaborative Team when i got there. That show is a lot of fun. I added, i was more of the executive producer helping them run it, help shape it and put it all together like that. What a treat, what a great cast, too. Peter Larry Wilmore, youre generally regarded as a pretty nice guy, are there any topics that are off limits for the white house Correspondents Dinner . Larry thats very nice, thank you for saying that. Well, im not a mean type of comic. I dont like attacking someone type of humor. I like to be more sly, you know, and that type of thing. So, yeah, you know, anything real personal i dont really care about. Its more fun to do jokes in more clever ways. You know, the other way of looking at it, too, it is a roast. And people do expect to get ribbed a lot. So its fun to roast people, i guess. Roast is the best way to say it, you know. Youre not really attacking them. Youre roasting them. Youre doing it in a good spirit. Peter Larry Wilmore, the entertainment at the white house Correspondents Dinner, 2016, thanks for your time. Larry thanks, peter, nice it talk to you again. Our coverage of the white house Correspondents Dinner begins today at 6 30 p. M. Eastern with red carpet arrivals followed later with speeches from the president and comedian Larry Wilmore. Watch the entire event live here on cspan. Now pentagon officials update members of congress on the militarys f35 joint Strike Fighter program. This hearing was held by the smart Armed Services committee and comes after a recent government report that raised concerns about the aircraft Logistical Software that could affect its deployment. This is just under two hours. Sen. Mccain we review the fiscal year 2017 budget request. I welcome our witnesses, under secretary of defense for Acquisition Technology and logistics, frank kendall, director of Operational Test and evaluation, dr. Mike gilmore. Christopher bogdan and michael sullivan. The f35 joint Strike Fighter program is the largest and most expensive Acquisition Program in the department of defenses history. The full capabilities of this aircraft will eventually provide are critical to Americas National security, our ability to deter our potential adversaries around the globe and if necessary, respond with overwhelming force to any future conflicts that may require military intervention. At the same time the f35s programs record of performance has been both a scandal and a tragedy with respect to costs, schedule, and performance and its a textbook example of why this committee has placed such a high priority on reforming the broken defense acquisition system. The f35 schedule for development has now stretched to more than 15 years, costs have more than doubled from original estimates. Aircraft deliveries amount to no more than a mere trickle relative to the original promises of the program. The original f35 deliver scheduled promised 1,013 f35s of all variants would be delivered by the end of fiscal year 2016. In reality, we will have 179. Because the air force, marines and navy, were all wouldnting on the f35s that never appeared, combat aircraft and Strike Fighter capacity shortfalls in all three services have reached critical levels severely impacting readyiness and ultimately limiting the departments ability to meet the requirements of the defense strategy. In the departments fiscal year 2017 budget request, dozens more aircraft are being deferred from the future Years Defense Plan resulting in a situation where the last f35 will be delivered in 2040. I cannot fathom how this strategy makes any sense. Purchasing combat aircraft with a 40yearold design in light of all of the testimony this committee has received about how our potential adversaries are rapidly catching up with and in some cases matching americas military technological advantages, those f35 aircraft being delivered are not delivered as promised. They have problems with maintenance, diagnostic software, sensor foogs shortfalls, fuel system problems, structural cracks from service life testing, engine reliability deficits, limits on the crew escape system that cause pilot Weight Restrictions and potential cyber vulnerabilities. This list is as troubling as it is long. We are approaching the end of the long nightmare known as currency. The illadvised simultaneously Development Testing and production of a complex and technologically challenging weapons system that the department estimates will end up costing the american taxpayers 1. 8 billion. Many questions remain such as the total number of these aircraft the nation should buy or can even afford, the costs of future upgrades to keep these aircraft he will vanity in the face of an ever evolving threat and the management and managers of a socalled joint program that general bogdan himself admitted that has aircraft that has 20, 25 commanality as compared to the original goal of 70 to 90 . The f35 a, b, and c are essentially three distinct aircraft with significantly Different Missions and capability requirements. The illusion of jointness perpetuated by the structure of the f35 joint program stifles the proper alignment of responsibility and accountability this program so desperately needs. There are also questions as to when the system, development, and demonstration phase or s. D. D. Will actually be completed so that initial Operational Test and evaluation can begin. Originally scheduled to conclude in 2017, we have ever indication that schedule pressures will likely extend s. D. D. Well into fiscal year 2018. Im very concerned the department may attempt to take short cuts by deferring Mission Capability content into later block upgrades and by doing so short change the war fighter once again by delaying necessary capabilities. The f35 was designed to replace multiple aircraft in all three services. Thats why the operational sting and evaluation must be done. There can be no questions in the minds of the american people, that their i yannick investment in this program will pay off with greatly improved capabilities that far surpass the Mission Capabilities of all these individual combat aircraft. Congress will not likely allow any more of these legacy aircraft to be retired from service until there is no doubt he f35 can adequately replace them, nor is the congress likely to entertain a block buy or other multiyear procurement schemes until the initial Operational Test and evaluation is completed and a positive milestone decision is made to commence full rate production, both of which i understand are scheduled to occur in fiscal year 2019. The department appears to be considering managing the f35 followon modernization which is estimated to cost over 8 billion for the first block upgrade within the overall f35 program. This is incredible given the departments dismal track record on these upgrade programs as the f22 a modernization and upgrade debacle showed. I have seen no evidence that d. O. D. s processes have improved to the level to have a sprap program that would enable close scrutiny by congress. Moreover, i expect the department to use fixed price contracts for the f35 modernization effort in order to protect taxpayers. Despite this programs many stumbles, there are some positive signs for the f35. The marines declared initial operational cap ability last july in yuma, arizona, and are preparing for their first overseas deployment next year. Those who fly and maintain the aircraft are preparing for air force i. O. C. This fall. They report that the latest lots of f35 as are flying very well with a significant jump in reliability and war fighting capability as compared to earlier aircraft. General bogdan has steadily pushed down aircraft per unit costs, reliability metrics are on the rise and each lot of aircraft deliveries present increasingly effective war fighting capabilities. All of this is a testament to hard work of military and civilian personnel inside this program today. Theyre doing their best to overcome misguided decisions taken long ago and theyre having success in important areas. However, there is a lot of Development Left to complete in this program and with it comes the potential for more problems, scheduled delays and increased cost. This committee will remain steadfast in its oversight responsibilities to insure our war fighters get the capabilities they need on time and at reasonable cost. Senator. Oh, just one second. Since a quorum is now present, i ask the committee to consider a list of 920 pending military nominations including this this list are the nominations of vincent k. Brooks to be Commander United Nations command con binald forces, general curtis, u. S. A. To be commander u. S. European command and supreme allied commander of europe and general lorie j. Robinson to be commander u. S. Northern command, commander north American Space command. All of these nominations have been before the committee. Is there a motion to favorably report these 920. So moved. Compape is there a second . Second. Sen. Mccain all in favor say a. Motion carries. Senator reid. Thank you very much, gentlemen. We will seek a better understanding of the progress the department is making in fielding the fighter, what actions the department has taken to amealiate problems with the program, what is the judgment available as to how effective these actions will be in preventing problems in the Program Including cost overruns and delays. We still have to complete the System Development and demonstration s. D. D. Program that is expected to deliver complete war fighting capability each of the three variants of the f35. We have not seen all of the changes in s. D. D. Since not all of the programs difficulties are behind us. According from dr. Gilmores prepared testimony, although the marine corps has initial cape ability in i. O. C. And the air force plans to do later this calendar year, it provides limited combat capability with the officially planned start of Operational Test and operation, just over one year away. Dr. Gilmore also assessed that the f35 program will not be ready until calendar year 2018 at the soonest and these assessments are of concern. Several years we required the department to estimate the dates of the three variants of the f35, the marine corps declared last year in july, the air force is declared later this year and the navy is scheduled to declare i. O. C. In 2018. The marine corps i. O. C. Was on a version of programs. It will be based on the Block Software and the navys were based on the Block Software version. Until recently to support the dates, the Program Office has been working on versions of oth blocks 3 e and 3 i and 3 f of the software simultaneously. It depends on having a stable baseline. With the Contractor Team working on multiple releases of software, correcting deficiencies and achieving Software Stability has proved elusive. Working simultaneously was intended to save time. It was lost when the project had to be redone because of the mistakes. The past year, they halted work on the software until the problems with the block 3 i software could be sorted out. We need to understand what effect this altered effect will have on the schedule. We are planning for sizable spiral through Development Efforts to the block 4 program. It will likely be a multibillion effort. We want to make sure that we dont repeat past mistakes. There is an even larger issue the cost to sustain the f35. These estimates were at one point as large as 1 trillion. We need to know what the department is doing to reduce these potential costs. The if we do nothing, we run the risk of increased cost to sustain the f35 and reduce Funds Available for a future force. This committee has been a strong supporter, however, we must continue our vigilance so there is a proper balance between f35 and other the if we do nothing, acquisitions. D. Thank you very much for calling the hearing. Sen. Mccain i welcome the witnesses, secretary kendall. Mr. Kendall thank you chairman mccain, im happy to be here today with general bogdan, the Program Executive officer for the f35 program as well as th mr. Gilmore and mr. Sullivan. My opening comments, i would like to discuss my own involvement with the f35. General bogdan will provide for detail on the current state of the program. My first exposure was in the fall of 2009 as i was awaiting confirmation. I was briefed by a member of dr. Gilmores staff and my reaction at the time was one of surprise at the extremely long period of initial production, approximately 10 years. A very high amount of concurrencey in the program as you mentioned, mr. Acquisitions. Thank you chairman. The currency being the overlap between development and production. It was one of the highest and therefore most risky i have ever seen. Production was started in 2007, well before the stability of the design could be confirmed through decision. I later call the decision acquisition malpractice, a phrase which has stuck. In 2010, before i was confirmed, the Program Manager was replaced. The new Program Manager was an admiral, a seasoned and competent professional. At the time the f35 went through a review as a result of the cost increases. As a result of the review, the program was rebaselined to the baseline that its operating against now and has ever since. In 2010, my predecessor, dr. Carter, ended the use of cost plus contracts starting in 2004. In 2011, i became the undersecretary. One of my early decision was to bring. He currency being general bogdn he has proven to be a highly competentnd professional Program Executive officer. In the fall of 2011, based on early operational assessment report from dr. Gilmores office, i had an independent review focusing on the design stability of the program. At the time the extent of the open design issues and the risk of high currency costs, let me just seriously consider halting production. Based on several considerations, i made the decision to hold production constant at 30 aircraft a year for the next two years and to assess progress before increasing production at that point. Under Lieutenant General bogdans leadership, it has made steady progress for the last four years. Cost and development have remained in the baseline. Production costs have steadily decreased. The cost of sustainment has been reduced by 10 since the program was. He rebaselined. There have been a few months of schedules slip primarily due to software complexity. The f35 is no longer a program that keeps me up at night. There are some design issues that still need to be resolved. The test program is about 90 complete, but i do expect additional discovery. I will be surprised in a main Design Program surfaces at this point. Our task now is to complete the test program, achieve i. O. C. For the air force later this year and the navy in 2018, complete o. T. And e and support our many partners and foreign sales customers as they become operational over the next few years. We need to move forward with a follow on development. I appreciate the support for funding that important work. The f35 is a Game Changing stateoftheart Weapon System. Our adversaries are not standing still. Integralive air defense systems, air to air weapons there have been a few and Electronic Warfare must be continuously countered. We must continuously improve the Weapon System to keep pace with the threats and i look forward to your questions. Compape thank you, general bogdan. Mr. Bogdan thank you, sir, general mccain, ranging member reed, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the f35 program. My purpose here today is provide you an hon balanced is assessment where the Program Stands today. Ill tell you what my team is doing to reduce costs, improve f35 performance and meet our scheduled commitments.