NATIONAL HARBOR: A fix has been identified for the 15 F-35As currently banned from flying and tests on the engineering will begin next week, said Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan. The head of the Joint Program Office told the Air Force Association conference here that the F-35s should have their fuel tank insulation problems fixed by the… Keep reading →

The US Air Force and Norway announced the temporary suspension of flight operations for 15 F-35As today because of “peeling and crumbling insulation in avionics cooling lines inside the fuel tanks.” The problem, caused by a supplier, was discovered during depot modification of an F-35A and affects a total of 57 aircraft, 42 of them still on the… Keep reading →

The F-35 program completed 25 weapons tests in a month, a marked surge from the previous high of three in November 2014. The weapons tests used the aircraft’s latest software, the 3F version. During the tests, some 30 weapons were dropped or fired, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), AIM-120 Missile, the Small Diameter Bomb… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The F-35 is now a real, honest-to-god weapon. It located, fixed and killed a real moving target on July 28. “It’s been said you don’t really have a fighter until you can actually hit a target, and we crossed that threshold with the first air-to-air weapon delivery of an AIM-9X. This successful test demonstrates… Keep reading →

UPDATED from SASC briefing WASHINGTON: In their dueling drafts of the annual defense bill, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain has staked out bold positions where the House’s Mac Thornberry is cautious — and McCain is cautious where Thornberry is bold. Specifically, according to a summary his staff released last night, McCain’s bill is bold… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: If you want to know how impassioned the head of the largest conventional weapons program in the world can get, then you should have been in the conference room here with reporters today. Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, who has wrestled the F-35 program back from the brink when it was a target of fury and ridicule, told reporters… Keep reading →

Here’s the press release from the F-35 Joint Program Office about the first firing of the F-35A gun in flight. I’m recovering from eye surgery and can’t handle looking at my computer for very long. Apologies. “The F-35A Lightning II completed the first three airborne gunfire bursts from its internal Gun Airborne Unit (GAU)-22/A 25mm… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: While Congress and the media focus on immediate issues with the F-35’s ejection seat, the program has begun working on a long-range modernization plan to upgrade the Joint Strike Fighter’s combat power. This modernization package, with the so-called Block 4 software upgrade at its core, is essential to the aircraft reaching its “full warfighting capability,” Maj. Gen.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Do dogfights matter in the age of tactical stealth? If an F-16 can outmaneuver an F-35 in a dogfight, does it matter? Does it matter if the earliest generation F-35 can’t outmaneuver an advanced model of the F-16 in an early test? So many questions. We’ll try to answer them because the folks at… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: In a clear sign of the growing importance of the F-35 to the Air Force as the aircraft nears IOC, the service is boosting the profile and office of the person working with the Joint Strike Fighter’s Joint Program Office from a colonel to a two-star general. The service announced today that Maj. Gen. Jeffrey… Keep reading →