F-35 still not combat ready, expert says

An independent, non-profit military watchdog group says the F-35 stealth fighter, even after 17 years of testing and billions of dollars spent on development, is STILL not ready for combat.

Dan Grazier with the group Project on Government Oversight says that there have been so many cracks in the jets during durability testing and so many modifications made, they might only last about 25-percent of their supposed life expectancy.

If that's not bad enough, he says the most combat-critical high-tech systems on the plane continue to malfunction and are vulnerable to hackers.

Pentagon officials dispute Grazier's report.

They still hope the F-35 can replace most of America's roughly 3,000 fighter jets, at a cost of $1-trillion.