From the factory floor, Lockheed Martin employees work on the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter production line in Fort Worth, Texas. (Defense Contract Management Agency)
National Interest: The F-35 Stealth Fighter Still Has 871 Problems
The military and defense contractors have struggled to get the plane in full working order, although improvements have been made over the years.
Lockheed is working with the Pentagon to repair some of the software glitches and technical challenges with the F-35 stealth fighter jet, despite reporting very high mission readiness rates, successful combat performance and effective technological functioning.
Citing a yet-to-be-released report from the Pentagon’s operational testing office, a Bloomberg news essay writes that the F-35 currently has 871 software and hardware “deficiencies.”
Given that the report is not as of yet available, it is not clear what the specific elements of the deficiencies are, or what kinds of impact they may have upon F-35 mission readiness or performance.
It is also at this point difficult to have a sense of how critical these may be, as some are likely to fall within the category of routine software and hardware upgrades or maintenance.
Read more ....
Update #1: F-35 Flies With 871 Flaws, Only Two Fewer Than Year Earlier (Bloomberg)
Update #2: Stealth F-35 Jets – The ‘World’s Most Advanced’ Aircraft Plagued With Flaws: Pentagon (EurAsian Times)
WNU Editor: The details on what are these 871 problems have not been made public.
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