Gates put F-35B on ‘probation’, cancels SLAMRAAM, buys more F/A-18

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced more restricting of the F-35 program on Thursday.

Gates warned that he is putting the F-35B on “a two-year probation” and the model could be canceled if the problems cannot be fix.

The Army will cancel the SLAMRAAM surface-to air-missile and NLOS program.

Money will be channeled to buy more Reaper UAVs and modernized radars of F-15s.

The Navy will also buy 41 more F/A-18 Super Hornets to hedge against more problems with the JSF.