[PilotDave]

“Durability testing data indicates service-life of initial F-35B short-takeoff-vertical landing jets bought by Marine Corps “is well under” expected service life of 8,000 fleet hours; “may be as low as 2,100″ hours.” They buried that little nugget. Wow, that is criminally bad.

[Delta 21]

Not if you own stock in Lockheed-Martin.

[oldplayer]

“They buried that little nugget. Wow, that is criminally bad.”

PilotDave, I caught that, too. Interesting statement in a sentence edited oddly by Bloomberg. Would love to see that information in context. I wonder if the service life applies only to the first batch? Is it degraded by short-take off and landing operations? Does “Beast Mode” affect it? Is it airframe fatigue? Systems problems? Jet blast problems from operations?

Importantly, can short service life scenarios be rectified and service life extended as in almost every other airframe in our military’s inventory?

[Delta 21]

Are these VTOL craft gonna burn a hole in the landing zone of the flight deck like the Russian YAK-38? Hovering over the deck is just as stressful on the equipment as flying at Mach.

[Bulwyf]

Single engine too, be a shame if they lost one in flight.

[dynoman]

“They buried that little nugget. Wow, that is criminally bad.”

The issue is not buried, and it applies to the earliest models.

Here’s a quote from a much better article;

“Items identified in the Annual DOT&E report are well understood and have been resolved in partnership with the F-35 Joint Program Office or have an agreed path forward to resolution,” Lockheed said in a statement to Aerospace DAILY.

Planned design changes should allow the early F-35Bs to meet the service life requirement of 8,000 flight hours, a program source says.”
http://aviationweek.com/defense/oldest-f-35b-could-hit-service-life-limit-2026