Book excerpt: "The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Alternate Engine Program gained national awareness when the Department of Defense (DoD) as part of the executive branch squared off against Congress in a very public debate over whether to continue funding the alternate engine for the JSF. The real issue at hand was what the best strategy is going forward to support increased national security. For many years Congress over-ruled DoD wishes to stop funding the program instead insisting that continued engine competition will drive a better quality engine for our nation's primary strike aircraft and lower costs over the long term, thereby enabling more and better quality resources toward our national security. The DoD maintained that the exorbitant costs needed today could never be recouped, and with low operational risks of the primary engine due to better technologies today, funding a second engine only detracted funds from other defense priorities and unnecessarily damages our national security."--Introduction.