F-35 Lightning Jet: Why US' Most Advanced Warplane Keeps Crashing | EXPLAINED

[beijingwalker]

F-35 Lightning Jet: Why US' Most Advanced Warplane Keeps Crashing | EXPLAINED​

Curated By: Majid Alam
News18.com
Last Updated: SEPTEMBER 20, 2023, 13:33 IST

The F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter, that crashed last week, is considered the most advanced fighter jet in the US arsenal. The $100 million warplane kept flying pilotless for 100 kilometres before the mishap occurred on Sunday and the debris were found after a long search in Williamsburg County, South Carolina on Monday.

The US Marine Corps pilot experienced a malfunction on the single-seat F-35B fighter jet and was “forced to eject” and parachute safely into a North Charleston neighbourhood. But the crash has raised a lot of question: whether the auto-eject function was triggered on its own, whether the malfunction was in the seat itself and why did the pilot ejected if the plane was able to keep operating for that long.

The F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter, produced by Lockheed Martin, is not only considered the most advanced fighter jet but also the primary fighter for both the US and its allies. So, far 972 warplanes already built and the manufacturer has already got plans to produce more than 3,500 planes.

The aircraft has three variants: the Air Force’s F-35A, which is the most produced and most sold to allies; the Marine Corps F-35B, which has the ability to take off and land vertically, and hover like a helicopter; and the Navy’s F-35C, which can land on a carrier.

Lockheed Martin has delivered 190 F-35B variants to the Marine Corps, at a cost of about $100 million each.

The jet has several unique features like its “advanced stealth” enables it to avoid radar and the sensors, communications and avionics allows it to track the enemy, jam radars and thwart attacks. However, there have been at least seven previous crashes where F-35s have been destroyed.

MANY CRASHES​

A US Navy F-35C fighter jet had experienced a “landing incident” on the deck of the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea in January this year, injuring seven people. The pilot was able to eject safely before the mishap.

During a training mission In October 2022, an F-35 fighter jet crashed while landing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. It was later found that the crash was resulted from a glitch in the aircraft software system which occurred after the pilot flew too close into the turbulence left by another F-35 ahead of him.

In November 2021, a British Royal Navy’s F-35B short take-off and vertical landing jet crashed into the Mediterranean Sea during take-off attempt from HMS Queen Elizabeth.

These incidents have been preceded by crashes of two USAF F-35As, two Marine Corps F-35Bs, one US Navy F-35C and one Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A.

MANY PROBLEMS​

The Marine Corps’ variant of the F-35, that was involved in the latest crash, is different from the Air Force and Navy versions due to several features like take off and landing like a helicopter and an auto-eject function.

However, auto-eject function has raised questions as to whether the malfunction the Marine pilot experienced was the seat itself.

Last December, an F-35B that had not yet been delivered to the Marine Corps crashed at Naval Air Station in Texas. The jet had been in hover mode over the airfield and began to drop, hit the runway and bounced before the pilot was ejected into the air.

In July 2022, the Air Force temporarily grounded its F-35s over ejection seat concerns. The last question that remains is why the plane kept operating for that long in a “zombie state.”

F-35 Lightning Jet: Why US' Most Advanced Warplane Keeps Crashing | EXPLAINED - News18

The F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter, produced by Lockheed Martin, is considered the most advanced fighter jet in the world

www.news18.com

 

[StraightEdge]

I would not read too much about what that website says - it's garbage mostly.

I am pretty sure there are much more credible sites which can explain this issue better. Even if I am not a big fan of F-35, I don't think these writers have much credibility to analyze that.

 

[Haldorss]

I would not read too much about what that website says - it's garbage mostly.

The crashes are fact. This didn't happen last generation. People now are dumber and think of the waste. No one is getting fired.

 

[beijingwalker]

Stealth Can’t Hide This: F-35 Fighters Proving ‘Unreliable’ Due To Maintenance Issues​

Such F-35 maintenance problems could hamper readiness in the event China decides to invade Taiwan or attack American allies in the western Pacific.

By John Rossomando
Sept. 23 2023

A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes that American taxpayers have poured billions into the F-35 program to the benefit of Lockheed Martin, yet the fighter remains subpar when it comes to readiness and, some would say, unreliable.

The recent crash of an F-35B in South Carolina in the wake of its pilot ejecting after losing control of the aircraft to its autopilot brings the problems with the program to the forefront.

Maintenance of the F-35 remains a headache for the U.S. military due to a lack of skilled technicians, and it remains behind when it comes to scheduling maintenance activities for repairs. The program remains heavily reliant on Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney contractors; consequently, the U.S. government has limited say. Bureaucratic misallocations of resources by the Defense Department exist between military and civilian management of the F-35 program. It also has a serious problem due to a lack of spare parts.

F-35s Operating Below Acceptable Levels​

“The F-35 fleet mission capable rate — the percentage of time the aircraft can perform one of its tasked missions — was about 55% in March 2023, far below program goals,” the report said.

The Defense Department planned to have 75% availability for the Air Force’s F-35A, 65% for the F-35B operated by the Marine Corps, and 75% for the F-35C.


GAO found that the program operates at a subpar level across the services. The Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force each operate a version of the F-35. The Defense Department has failed to gain a better grip on the maintenance program for the aircraft.

“In October 2017, we reported that DOD did not have enough capacity to repair F-35 aircraft parts because it was 6 years behind schedule standing up those capabilities at military service depots. DOD—at the time of our review—was nearly 12 years behind schedule standing up those depots,” the GAO report said. “… DOD’s revised projection is that the program will not establish depot repair capability for all component repairs (68 workloads) until 2027. Of the 44 activated workloads, six were fully activated in calendar year 2022. This was an increase of 12 workloads since 2020 and, according to DOD officials …”

The Defense Department notes that it is still years away from achieving its goals. A major problem for the Pentagon when it comes to the F-35 program. The program has inadequate and inconsistent funding for maintenance. In one case documented by the report, the Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center East told the GAO investigators it did not have adequate funding for infrastructure improvements to maintain the F-35s through 2025.


Many of the problems stem from a misallocation of resources in the Pentagon budget, the GAO found.

F-35 vs. China​

Such F-35 maintenance problems could hamper readiness in the event China decides to invade Taiwan or attack American allies in the western Pacific.

Currently, the U.S. operates around 450 F-35s of various configurations, which could allow it to mass Fifth-Generation fighter aircraft against China in the event of a war. The Air Force hopes to obtain 1,763 F-35As, and the increase in the number of F-35s in the export market has distributed some of the costs.


From an operational standpoint, the F-35 showed it could shoot down a fleet of Fourth-Generation fighters without being detected during the Air Force’s annual Red Flag training wargames.

China fears the F-35A due to its versatility as both an intelligence collection tool and as an adversary.

Modern Defence Technology, a Chinese language journal, published a study led by Bao Junchen from the National University of Defence Technology in Hefei, Anhui province in eastern China. It found that PLA’s Unit 31649 based in the southern province of Guangdong, suggested the F-35 could be a more potent threat than the older F-22 Raptor.

“Considering that [the F-35A] can be used both as a sensor for intelligence gathering and as a main escort for forward attacks, both soft kill and hard kill attack methods should be used against it,” the Chinese researchers wrote, according to the South China Morning Post.

They recommended using cyberattacks and electronic warfare to neutralize the fighters. As the most recent episode in South Carolina showed, the F-35’s computer system could potentially be the biggest problem that the U.S. military needs to resolve and to harden it from cyberattacks.

Stealth Can't Hide This: F-35 Fighters Proving 'Unreliable' Due to Maintenance Issues

Such F-35 maintenance problems could hamper readiness in the event China decides to invade Taiwan or attack American allies in the western Pacific.

www.19fortyfive.com

 

[StraightEdge]

The crashes are fact. This didn't happen last generation. People now are dumber and think of the waste. No one is getting fired.

No doubt crashes are a fact - I am saying I don't think this website has any credibility to discuss F-35 crashes.

 

[beijingwalker]

Even western media noticed that this high crash rate is not normal.

 

[RoadAmerica]

The crashes are fact. This didn't happen last generation. People now are dumber and think of the waste. No one is getting fired.

Yes yes they did happen during many past generations of actions of aircraft. Reading and comprehension are your friends.

 

[Haldorss]

Yes yes they did happen during many past generations of actions of aircraft. R

I read it, he said the website is garbage when the topic is fact. You need the reading comprehension.