U.S Defence Secretary Robert Gates has sacked the marine general overseeing a 40 billion dollar project to build the next generation strike fighter jet.<br/><br/>Mr Gates said the F-35 programme had been plagued by problems and failed to hit performance targets.<br/><br/>He also said Lockheed Martin, the US corporation responsible for building the jet, would not be awarded 614 million dollars in performance-related payouts. The Pentagon wants the F-35 to replace most of its ageing fighter jets.<br/>