Lara Seligman, Defense News: What’s Left on the Air Force Checklist To Make F-35s Operational?
The Air Force plans to declare initial operating capability for its new F-35A jets by the end of 2016. Here's what they have left to do.
WASHINGTON — The clock is ticking down to the Air Force’s deadline to declare its F-35A jets operational before the end of 2016.
Although the joint program office (JPO) and contractor Lockheed Martin still have several major hurdles to overcome, both industry and government officials are confident the team will beat the Dec. 30 cutoff date.
The Air Force can declare initial operational capability (IOC) for the F-35A when the first operational squadron is equipped with 12 to 24 aircraft, and airmen are trained, manned and equipped to conduct three basic missions: close-air support, interdiction, and suppression and destruction of enemy air defense. The Air Force has a five-month window of time between the objective date, Aug. 1, and the threshold, Dec. 30, to meet those requirements for IOC.
The team is making progress toward those requirements, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Lockheed and the JPO are lagging behind schedule to finish work on the latest version of the jet's logistics system, and the Lockheed-JPO team still needs to complete a critical software fix. On top of that, the team has to finish retrofitting the fleet with the latest structural modifications. Meanwhile, the reprogramming laboratories that build the plane's vast databanks are overloaded.
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WNU Editor: Considering the history of this aircraft .... I do not share their optimism that it will be operational at the end of this year.
1 comment:
They will implement a long standing USAF tradition. It will be pencil whipped. See. No problem. Next!
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