U.S. Air Force Grounds 15 'Combat Ready' F-35 Fighter Jets Due To “Peeling And Crumbling” Insulation

An F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter takes off on a training sortie at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in this March 6, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/U.S. Air Force photo/Randy Gon/Handout

Bloomberg: Air Force Grounds ‘Combat Ready’ F-35 Over Coolant Line Flaw

* ‘Crumbling’ insulation found during routine maintenance
* Air Force sees quality glitches, not design flaw, in aircraft

Seven weeks after the Air Force declared its first F-35 jets combat ready, 10 of the aircraft aren’t flying after service mechanics discovered “peeling and crumbling” insulation wrapped around lines that carry liquid to cool combat systems and computers.

The poor insulation is suspected on 57 aircraft, including 42 on Lockheed Martin Corp.’s production line. The issue is not a design flaw with the aircraft but instead caused by manufacturing quality glitches with one of two subcontractors which make the 18 lines through which the coolant flows, according to an Air Force statement and an interview with a service official, who asked not to be identified.

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More News On The U.S. Air Force Grounding 15 'Combat Ready' F-35 Fighter Jets Due To “Peeling And Crumbling” Insulation

15 F-35 Models Grounded Due to Wiring Issue -- Defense News
US Air Force grounds F-35 fighter jets -- CNN
Air Force Grounds More Than a Dozen F-35s for a New Problem -- Fiscal Times
Fuel line glitch hits 57 F-35As -- Flight Global
US Air Force Grounds F-35s It Just Declared Ready for War -- Defense One
Air Force grounds 15 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters because of ‘peeling and crumbling’ insulation -- Washington Post
15 F-35As (13 USAF and 2 RNoAF) Grounded By “Several faulty cooling lines discovered in their wings” -- The Aviationist
U.S. Air Force grounds F-35 fighters over cooling line problems -- Reuters
US Air Force to ground over a dozen F-35 warplanes, citing poor manufacturing & ‘crumbling’ material -- RT