A senior manager in charge of procuring the next generation of military fighter jets known as F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been fired and the Department of Defense has been instructed to withhold money that would pay bonuses to the lead contractor, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday.
In a briefing at the Pentagon on the 2011 defense budget, Gates said inefficiencies and budget overruns within the costly fighter program forced him to take action.
Gates said Lockheed Martin, the defense contractor responsible for producing the F-35, is in agreement with his plan to withhold bonuses, calling it a burden "the taxpayer should not have to bear."
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