Battling for sales: joint strike fighter bracing for marketing wars.

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The Pentagon is counting on its prized new Joint Strike Fighter to guarantee victory against future enemies. But before it can secure its place as the world's premier combat jet, the JSF must first be able to beat its canny competitors in the global aerospace industry. European manufacturers of warplanes such as the Eurofighter and the Gripen are out there, aggressively marketing their products as cheaper and easier-to-acquire alternatives to JSE These companies offer industrial "offsets" so buyers get a share of the production work. That is bad news for JSF, which will have to play catch-up against these savvy marketers. One issue of concern is that European companies are offering attractive incentives to JSF partner nations to buy their jets, possibly at the expense of future JSF purchases. That is something that worries Air Force Maj. Gen. C.R. Davis, program executive officer for the JSE. "What keeps me awake at night is how those airplanes are marketed," he told "This Week in Defense News."

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