The F-35 has run into one of its most significant problems yet
Apr. 27, 2015, 12:26 PM
An F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing aircraft flies behind a tanker on a mission over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in September 2013.
The F-35 is having significant problems with one of its most important components: the engine.
According to reports from both the
(GAO) and the
, the Pratt & Whitney engines designed for the F-35 program have encountered a number of problems.
In a report issued on April 27, the Pentagon's Inspector General noted 61 instances in which F-35 engines were didn't meet the Pentagon's regulatory standards for the F-35 program during an inspection.
The nonconformities were wide-ranging and affected almost every level of engine development. They included problems with the supply line and project management, as well as mechanical issues and software deficiencies.
"Based on those nonconformities, we identified systemic findings in the following areas," the Inspector General report
. "[P]rogram management oversight, critical safety item compliance, continuous improvement, risk management, supplier management, and software quality management."
The
from April 14 echoes the Inspector General's concerns. "[T]he F-35 system reliability has been limited by poor engine reliability which will take additional time and resources to achieve reliability goals," GOA wrote.
"We believe that DOD has a long way to go to achieve its engine reliability goals as engine reliability at this time is extremely poor," the GOA report
. "Reliability is a function of how well a system design performs over a specified period of time without failure, degradation, or need of repair. Poor reliability with the engine has limited the program’s overall reliability progress."
Liz Kaszynski/Lockheed MartinThe fifth Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Short Take Off/Vertical Landing flight test aircraft delivered to the Marine Corps arrives at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md.,
The suspect reliability of the F-35's engines has led to a decrease in overall flight hours for the plane since more frequent maintenance is required.
to Bloomberg Business, the F-35B variant flew for an average of 47 hours instead of a pre-determined 90 hours before reaching a point where it could no longer safely operate due to "engine design issues." The rate was even worse for the F-35A and C variants, which flew for an average of 25 hours instead of the intended 120 hours.
However, Pratt & Whitney disagree with both the GAO report and the report from the Inspector General. Matthew Bates, a spokesman for the company, told Business Insider via email that the "DoD IG report is based on their audit in November of 2014."
"Since then, P&W has worked aggressively to address the DoD IG’s findings and corrective actions. This was an audit of P&W’s quality system and F135 contractual adherence, not an audit of F135 product quality. None of these findings had any impact on the product performance."
Pratt & Whitney is scheduled to complete all necessary changes highlighted in the Inspector General's report by July.
An F-35 Lightning II completes a series of night flights, testing the ability to fly the jet safely in instrument meteorological conditions where the pilot has no external visibility references.
Pratt and Whitney have also disagreed with the conclusions from the GAO report. According to the company, GAO incorrectly assessed engine reliability and failed to account for the new engines that the company has released.
"Our current F135 CTOL engine achieves and exceeds specification requirements (147% of required levels). The reliability of the F135 STOVL engine meets 119% of its current requirement," Bates told BI. "The report incorrectly assessed engine reliability, as it did not account for new designs that have been validated and are being incorporated into production and fleet engines."
On April 22, the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee
for an independent investigation into "reliability, growth and cost reduction efforts" for the Pratt & Whitney F-35 engine. The investigation is scheduled to finish by March 16, 2016.
ليس لديك تصريح لمشاهدة الرابط، فضلا قم ب تسجيل الدخول او تسجيلAn F-35 Lightning II completes a series of night flights, testing the ability to fly the jet safely in instrument meteorological conditions where the pilot has no external visibility references.
تسريع التسليم هو رد على إستلام مصر لصفقة مقاتلات الرافال و إقتراب الإعلان عن صفقة المقاتلات الروسية التى تعاقدت عليها مصر .
