August 24, 2016 — 11:07 AM ICT
- Fighter is ‘on a path toward failing to deliver,’ Gilmore says
- Memo came a week after Air Force declared its version ready
A week after the Air Force declared its version of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet ready for limited combat operations, the Pentagon’s top tester warned that the U.S. military’s costliest weapons program is still riddled with deficiencies.
“In fact the program is actually not on a path toward success but instead on a path toward failing to deliver” the aircraft’s full capabilities, “for which the Department is paying almost $400 billion by the scheduled end” of its development in 2018, Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational testing, said in an Aug. 9 memo obtained by Bloomberg News.
“Achieving full combat capability with the Joint Strike Fighter is at substantial risk” of not occurring before development is supposed to end and realistic combat testing begins, he said of the F-35.
The memo provides a timely reminder of an issue that the next president and defense secretary will inherit. They are scheduled to decide in 2019 whether to let the fighter jet move into full production, the most lucrative phase for Lockheed, the biggest U.S. defense contractor.
The Air Force made its declaration of initial combat capability on Aug. 2, but “most of the limitations” previously identified with software, data fusion, electronic warfare and weapons employment continue, Gilmore wrote.
‘Far Behind’
The program “is running out of time and money to complete the planned flight testing and implement the required fixes and modifications” needed to finish the phase successfully, he said. “Flight testing is making progress but has fallen far behind the planned rate.”
The most complex software capabilities “are just being added” and new problems requiring fixes and verification testing “continue to be discovered at a substantial rate,” Gilmore wrote to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James; General David Goldfein, the service’s chief of staff; and Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s acquisitions chief.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in an e-mail that the service is aware of Gilmore’s memo and is reviewing it. “It’s important to acknowledge the program is still in its developmental stage when issues are expected to be discovered and resolved,” Stefanek said.
Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Defense Department’s F-35 program office, said in an e-mail “there were absolutely no surprises” in the memo as “all of the issues mentioned are well-known” and being resolved.
“While nearing completion, the F-35 is still in development, and technical challenges are to be expected,” DellaVedova said. “The program has a proven track record of solving technical issues and we’re confident we’ll continue to do so.”
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