1.   The plan is also expected to call for cuts in fighter jet programs and two rounds of base closings.

2.   America does not need three separate advanced fighter plane programs.

3.   And that is good news for Charles Thomas Burbage, a Lockheed executive vice president who is general manager for its joint strike fighter program.

4.   Boeing gained the fighter programs when it acquired McDonnell Douglas this summer.

5.   All three variants of the fighters to be produced in the joint strike fighter program will have distinctly different performance characteristics.

6.   Callan and Hackett speculate that such concerns might lead the Department of Defense to choose two suppliers for the fighter program.

7.   Cohen also warned Bush about cutting spending on three expensive fighter plane programs that Cohen strongly supported during his tenure.

8.   Of course, U.S. fighter programs often face their toughest foe in Congress.

9.   That results in large expenditures on overlapping systems, like three separate new tactical fighter programs.

10.   The Boeing Co. is heavily involved in the three fighter programs.