Joe Meyer: F-35 engine swap is bad for business in Florida

As our nation struggles economically and we cope with rising inflation levels not seen in 40 years, we should focus on supporting businesses that are doing well and bringing jobs to Florida. One of these examples is the F-35, which is based and partially manufactured here.

One of the Sunshine State’s true bright spots for business has been the F-35 — the world’s most advanced stealth fighter jet proudly made in America. The Air Force, Navy and Marines all fly them. So do more than a dozen international allies either in direct partnership with our military or through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

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Florida’s Congressional delegation has worked hard over the years to base them at both Eglin Air Force Base with the 33rd Fighter Wing and at Jacksonville Airport as part of the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing, bringing both security and jobs to the state.

In 2019, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Reps. John Rutherford (R-FL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Michael Waltz (R-FL) and Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) sent a letter to the Air Force encouraging the decision to replace Jacksonville’s aging F-15 fighters with F-35s. All five handily won their re-elections last month — a testament to their track records of getting results for Florida.

Besides military basing, many of the jet’s engines are made in Palm Beach County, pumping billions of dollars into Florida’s economy over the years. In 2017, Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Tom Rooney (R-FL) visited the manufacturing plant in Jupiter to test out the F-35 simulator along with business leaders from the Palm Beach community. Díaz-Balart tweeted out support for F-35s shown while testing out his skills in the simulator.

But that good news story for Florida is threatened by a years-long debate in Washington over whether or not to replace the F-35's engine (known as the F135) with an entirely new system.

Rep. Rooney spearheaded the effort to halt the engine swap in 2011, even going against then-House Speaker John Boehner to get it done. Tea Party Republicans and Democrats teamed up at the time to save U.S. taxpayers $450 million by doing so. Even though that $450 million would have been a colossal waste of time and money if the engine change went forward, some in Washington are trying again. It is Washington, after all.

From my own military service, I can understand the need to innovate in order to stay ahead of adversaries in defense technology. Yet it doesn’t take a pilot or rocket scientist to figure out that a completely different propulsion system appears wasteful compared to modernizing the existing one for reportedly less money with comparable results.

The price tag for a proposed replacement engine, dubbed the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) is sky high — possibly topping $6 billion. Even though defense budgets have been generously funded by the Trump and Biden Administrations, they aren’t and shouldn’t be endless wells of public funds which have already been fueling record inflation.

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Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall acknowledged such budgetary challenges at a defense news conference in Arlington, Virginia, just months ago, noting the cost of a new replacement engine will mean possibly fewer than 70 of the F-35s. Considering the history of acquisition expense overruns, that number is sure to grow.

So if AETP ultimately gets approved by the Pentagon and funded by Congress, not only will America and Florida have fewer F-35s in the inventory, the Air Force and Air National Guard at Eglin and Jacksonville will have two entirely different supply and logistic chains to maintain and operate the older and newer models of F-35s. It would be a waste of time and money for those military units, not to mention an unnecessary logistical nightmare.

Moreover, the engine factory in Palm Beach County could close or see significant layoffs, dealing a major blow to Florida’s economy. As if hurricanes already aren’t bad enough in the state, the last thing we need is a man-made one whipping our business community by taking jobs away.

The bottom line is — if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. The F-35s are doing their jobs. And remarkably well. They are keeping us safe and bringing jobs to Florida. Instead of changing something that is working, let’s keep doing what is working and keep the F-35 and its current engine system.

Joe Meyer is a former U.S. Army major, founder of Meyer Capital and Palm Beach resident. 

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions. 

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: With two F-35 squadrons based in Florida, engine swap is bad business