F-35 News. It all comes back to cost.

When it comes to the F-35 I've focused on one issue and what it means to the USMC.

Cost.

Now we see the Pentagon still playing the "ramp up production to push down the cost curve" lie.  Check this out from Bloomberg.

-The Pentagon will request funding in fiscal 2016 to buy 57 F-35 jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), two more than previously planned, according to two government officials.
The Defense Department’s previous five-year plan had projected buying 55 of the fighter jets during the year that begins Oct. 1, said the officials, who asked not to be identified before President Barack Obamasubmits his budget to Congress on Feb. 2.
If approved by lawmakers, the acquisition would mark a major increase for a program that’s experienced cuts amid tight defense budgets and setbacks in testing of the costliest U.S. weapons system. The Pentagon had requested 34 of the jets for the current year, and Congress increased that to 38.
The projected budget for 55 aircraft was $9 billion; the added cost for two more planes wasn’t immediately available.

I don't think it will work.  I don't see sequestration being eased or lifted. The author of this article summed things up perfectly at the end.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a September audit that the Pentagon continues to “develop and field the most costly weapons system program in history without knowing whether the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps can pay for it.”

The debate IS about costs.  No longer is the debate about whether stealth as presented in the F-35 is effective.  Its not about sensor fusion or whether the airplane can dog fight or if its even capable of delivering on the promised performance.  Its all about cost.

Can the Pentagon afford this airplane?

I don't think so.