Lockheed’s F-35 Has Fewer Unfixed Defects as Key Test Approaches

U.S. Marine Corps photo / Sgt. Samuel Ruiz

Lockheed’s F-35 Has Fewer Unfixed Defects as Key Test Approaches - BNN Bloomberg

Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin Corp. have reduced the laundry list of deficiencies on the contractor’s F-35 with the fighter jet, the world’s costliest weapons program, due for a key combat simulation by mid-year.

The number of “open deficiency reports” now stands at 831, the Defense Department’s F-35 program office said, down from 845 in September 2021. Earlier last year the total stood at 864, including eight “Category 1” defects deemed the most serious to pilot safety, flight operations or both.

Five “Category 1” defects remain, but none of them are in group described as potentially jeopardizing “safety, security or another critical requirement,” according to Russell Goemaere, a spokesman for the F-35 office.

Lockheed spokesperson Laura Siebert said in a statement that “we continue to work” with the Pentagon “to address open items, with approximately 80% categorized as low priority” or “in resolution.”

In August, the F-35 program will attempt to complete a simulation of combat against the most advanced threats posed by Chinese and Russian aircraft and air defenses. The simulation has been delayed by years.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Northrop Grumman Developing the Next Generation Radar for the F-35 Lightning II

F-35 Lightning II: Details