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How We Tamed the F-35’s Spiraling Costs — and Created a Model for Controlling Waste

| July 11, 2019

The former defense secretary says defending America means defending taxpayers’ dollars.

My late friend Sen. John McCain once called me to complain about an inexcusably large cost overrun on an aircraft carrier. “Ash,” he said, “how am I supposed to support the DOD budget the way you want when the voters are reading about this kind of thing?”

McCain’s words stung, but he had a fair point. The Department of Defense asks for and receives nearly three quarters of a trillion dollars every year to defend America. Contending with multiple threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and terrorists can’t be done on the cheap. But it’s unreasonable to expect taxpayers to fork over that amount of money unless it’s managed responsibly.

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Carter, Ash.“How We Tamed the F-35’s Spiraling Costs — and Created a Model for Controlling Waste.” Defense One, July 11, 2019.

The Author

Ash Carter

Ash Carter

  • Former Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Former Belfer Professor of Technology and Global Affairs
  • Former Faculty Director, Technology and Public Purpose Project
  • Former Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Former Faculty Affiliate, Project on Managing the Atom
  • Former United States Secretary of Defense (2015-2017)
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