Pentagon Tester: F-35 Still Has Serious Problems

From Popular Mechanics

One week after the U.S. Air Force declared the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter ready for combat, the Pentagon's top weapons tester warned that the aircraft is still fraught with problems and that fully-capable planes might not be available before the deadline that marks the end of development and the beginning of realistic combat testing.

The Pentagon's director of operational testing, Michael Gilmore, stated in a memo obtained by Bloomberg that the F-35 is "actually not on a path toward success but instead on a path toward failing to deliver" the plane's full combat capabilities on time. Gilmore also said the plane is "running out of time and money" to address deficiencies

The U.S. Air Force declared the F-35A-the Joint Strike Fighter's land-based variant-Initial Operational Capability (IOC) on August 2nd. That means that the stealthy fighter is cleared for deployments-including combat-although the plane is not fully functional. Gilmore's memo was dated August 9th. The F-35A was originally set to achieve IOC in 2011.

Gilmore warned that the plane "is at substantial risk" of not being fully combat capable-that is, at risk of not being able to use its full range of promised weapons, sensors, and other advanced systems-before late summer or early fall 2017, when realistic combat testing is set to commence.

The problem seems to be due to delays in getting the Block 3F software package, which controls much of the F-35's most important features, ready for the entire F-35 fleet. Block 3F is known as the "full warfighting package" and having it operational is one of the key requirements of ending F-35 development. Testing now appears likely to be pushed back to later in 2017 or even 2018.

At least 15 capabilities in the 3F software package-including the ability to process enemy radar signals, track moving targets on the ground, share imagery between aircraft, use the GPS-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, and operate the plane's 25-millimeter gun-are all still under development and at risk of not being ready for combat testing.

For its part, the F-35 program office told Bloomberg that the report contained "absolutely no surprises" and that all of the issues mentioned were well-known and in the process of being resolved. Exactly when they would be resolved was not mentioned.

The F-35 program office would like to get successful testing behind the troubled fighter as soon as possible, as that would open the door for large "block buys" of F-35s for the United States and its allies. Such buys take advantage of economies of scale and result in lower per-plane prices.

In addition to the U.S., the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, Italy, Australia, Japan and Israel are all committed to buying the F-35, with other countries including Canada and Singapore potential customers.

Source:Bloomberg

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