F-35’s List of Flaws Includes a Gun That Can’t Shoot Straight - F-35.jpg

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(Bloomberg) -- Add a gun that can’t shoot straight to the problems that dog
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s $428 billion F-35 program, including more than 800
software flaws.

The 25mm gun on Air Force models of the Joint Strike Fighter has “unacceptable”
accuracy in hitting ground targets and is mounted in housing that’s cracking,
the Pentagon’s test office said in its latest assessment of the costliest U.S.
weapons system.

The annual assessment by Robert Behler, the Defense Department’s director of
operational test and evaluation, doesn’t disclose any major new failings in the
plane’s flying capabilities. But it flags a long list of issues that his office
said should be resolved -- including 13 described as Category 1 “must-fix” items
that affect safety or combat capability -- before the F-35’s upcoming $22
billion Block 4 phase.

The number of software deficiencies totaled 873 as of November, according to the
report obtained by Bloomberg News in advance of its release as soon as Friday.
That’s down from 917 in September 2018, when the jet entered the intense combat
testing required before full production, including 15 Category 1 items. What was
to be a year of testing has now been extended another year until at least
October.

“Although the program office is working to fix deficiencies, new discoveries are
still being made, resulting in only a minor decrease in the overall number” and
leaving “many significant‘’ ones to address, the assessment said.

Cybersecurity ‘Vulnerabilities’

In addition, the test office said cybersecurity “vulnerabilities” that it
identified in previous reports haven’t been resolved. The report also cites
issues with reliability, aircraft availability and maintenance systems.

The assessment doesn’t deal with findings that are emerging in the current round
of combat testing, which will include 64 exercises in a high-fidelity simulator
designed to replicate the most challenging Russian, Chinese, North Korean and
Iranian air defenses.

Despite the incomplete testing and unresolved flaws, Congress continues to
accelerate F-35 purchases, adding 11 to the Pentagon’s request in 2016 and in
2017, 20 in fiscal 2018, 15 last year and 20 this year. The F-35 continues to
attract new international customers such as Poland and Singapore. Japan is the
biggest foreign customer, followed by Australia and the U.K.

By late September, 490 F-35s had been delivered and will require extensive
retrofitting. The testing office said those planes were equipped with six
different versions of software, with another on the way by the time that about
1,000 planes will be in the hands of the U.S. and foreign militaries.

A spokesmen for the Pentagon’s F-35 program office had no immediate comment on
the testing office’s report.

Brett Ashworth, a spokesman for Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed, said that
“although we have not seen the report, the F-35 continues to mature and is the
most lethal, survivable and connected fighter in the world.” He said
“reliability continues to improve, with the global fleet averaging greater than
65% mission capable rates and operational units consistently performing near
75%.”

The Mattis Test

Still, the testing office said “no significant portion” of the U.S.’s F-35 fleet
“was able to achieve and sustain” a September 2019 goal mandated by then-Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis: that the aircraft be capable 80% of the time needed to
perform at least one type of combat mission. That target is known as the
“Mission Capable” rate.

“However, individual units were able to achieve the 80% target for short periods
during deployed operations,” the report said. All the aircraft models lagged “by
a large margin” behind the more demanding goal of “Full Mission Capability.”

The Air Force’s F-35 model had the best rate at being fully mission capable,
while the Navy’s fleet “suffered from a particularly poor” rate, the test office
said. The Marine Corps version was “roughly midway” between the other two.

The Air Force and Navy versions are also continuing to have cracks in structural
components, according to the report, saying, “The effect on F-35 service life
and the need for additional inspection requirements are still being determined.”

Gun Woes

The three F-35 models are all equipped with 25mm guns. The Navy and Marine
versions are mounted externally and have acceptable accuracy. But the Air Force
model’s gun is mounted inside the plane, and the test office “considers the
accuracy, as installed, unacceptable” due to “misalignments” in the gun’s mount
that didn’t meet specifications.

The mounts are also cracking, forcing the Air Force to restrict the gun’s use.
The program office has “made progress with changes to gun installation” to
improve accuracy but they haven’t been tested yet, according to the report.





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