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Lockheed F-35’s Tally of Flaws Tops 800 as ‘New Issues’ Surface
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet remains marred by more than 800 unresolved software and hardware deficiencies of varying severity that could undercut readiness, missions or maintenance, according to updated statistics released Tuesday by the Pentagon’s testing office and Congress’s watchdog agency. (www.bloomberg.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Good thing the revamped F-15 is starting to fly. It certainly isn't as sophisticated as the F-35 but it is pretty darn capable on it's own with the upgrades.
and more expensive to boot! What a deal for the American taxpayers.
The F-15EXs are actually more expensive than the new block of the F-35.
However the F-15's cost less per hour to fly than the F-35 and will have a longer life. Our military leaders wanted more and more from the 35 which is one of the reasons it has taken so long to reach full operation capability (of what was promised), the other major reason is the parts break down too quickly and replacing them is an expensive and time challenging process.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/how-much-cheaper-is-the-f-15ex-compared-to-the-f-35/
However the F-15's cost less per hour to fly than the F-35 and will have a longer life. Our military leaders wanted more and more from the 35 which is one of the reasons it has taken so long to reach full operation capability (of what was promised), the other major reason is the parts break down too quickly and replacing them is an expensive and time challenging process.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/how-much-cheaper-is-the-f-15ex-compared-to-the-f-35/
A complex piece of aeronautical equipment designed by a congressional committee to satisfy their respective constituencies. Doomed to this fate from the beginning. We're not talking requirements creep here, we're talking requirements explosions on a thermonuclear scale.
Compare with another company product - SR-71 - that was a point design with no more than 10 customer contacts. I was going to say you could count them on 2 hands and IIRC it was a 1-hand customer count. And, they were competent aerospace experts not political weasels.
As a former Lockheed employee in another, very distant arm of the company I never wanted to get close to this as the politics were just too stinky and sticky.
I have friends who worked on the F22 and then the F35 who said they tried to solve/avoid on the F35 some of the problems they had on the F22. For one, a lot of the electronics boxes on the F22 was designed using active components (ICs, etc.) that were on sundown lists before the plane flew. Switching parts, boards, boxes, etc., is harder than it looks and anybody who thinks it's easy is either stupid or needs professional help.
The low observable requirement really complicates lots of stuff - sometimes by orders of magnitude. Switch-mode PSs used to convert voltages are RFI noisy as hell and that noise sneaks out all over the place often despite herculean efforts making the plane a flying RF source that is easy to find and, obviously, shoot at.
It's really a marvel that it flies at all.
Compare with another company product - SR-71 - that was a point design with no more than 10 customer contacts. I was going to say you could count them on 2 hands and IIRC it was a 1-hand customer count. And, they were competent aerospace experts not political weasels.
As a former Lockheed employee in another, very distant arm of the company I never wanted to get close to this as the politics were just too stinky and sticky.
I have friends who worked on the F22 and then the F35 who said they tried to solve/avoid on the F35 some of the problems they had on the F22. For one, a lot of the electronics boxes on the F22 was designed using active components (ICs, etc.) that were on sundown lists before the plane flew. Switching parts, boards, boxes, etc., is harder than it looks and anybody who thinks it's easy is either stupid or needs professional help.
The low observable requirement really complicates lots of stuff - sometimes by orders of magnitude. Switch-mode PSs used to convert voltages are RFI noisy as hell and that noise sneaks out all over the place often despite herculean efforts making the plane a flying RF source that is easy to find and, obviously, shoot at.
It's really a marvel that it flies at all.
Having been an electrical/software engineer on one of the teams developing avionics systems for the F-35, rest assured the components and development processes used in the design were state of the art for the early 2000's. Future proofing was integral to the design knowing that technological capabilities were progressing at light speed and would need to be incorporated many times during the aircraft's lifetime . F-35 is a beast of a weapons platform, not a pure dog fight fighter like F-16 or any other 4th gen fighter in the US arsenal. It has it's problems for sure but give the platform time, one day it will prove it's worth, particularly while operating with the new UCAV platforms(drones) being developed. As an advanced adversary, I wouldn't want to take on a flight of F-35's integrated with a pack of drones.
given it 15+ years...need more time???
+1