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The failure of the F136 engine in late September resulted from a “seal clearance” in the fan that was set too tight, causing friction. “The issue with engine 008 was unique to that engine,” GE spokesman Rick Kennedy said in an email. “No modification [will be] required to other engines.” Engines 05 and 07 continue to run well in tests. The program could ill afford any bad news at this time. The Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen Norton Schwartz, appeared to open the door to a compromise with GE and Rolls Royce over the F136 when he said they...

The Royal Navy looks set to have two new carriers capable of supporting planes as well as helicopters, Ministry of Defence sources have confirmed. There had been speculation the second of the two carriers ordered by the Navy - the HMS Prince of Wales, due to enter service in 2018 - would be either be scrapped, downgraded, or moth-balled following the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). Originally conceived as a Queen Elizabeth class carrier capable of supporting the American-built F35 Joint Strike Fighter, it had been rumoured the MoD would alter its specifications to that of a helicopter carrier....

An announced engine selection for Israel's first batch of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters has sparked a new dispute between both rival manufacturers. Pratt & Whitney says the company has received a verbal commitment by Israel to buy the F135 engine to power the first batch of 20 F-35s ordered under a $2.75 billion agreement signed last week. The General Electric/Rolls-Royce team developing the F136 alternate engine claims the selection process remains ongoing. "We fully anticipate we will have an opportunity to compete with the F136" in Israel, GE says. The controversy leaves in doubt the first potential engine selection by...

Lockheed Martin received a $13 million contract to incorporate a shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) capability with the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B, with the work to be performed on behalf of the UK. The US Navy announced details of the Joint Strike Fighter award on 6 October, just two weeks before the UK's coalition government will disclose the details of its Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) process. This has assessed the nation's long-term military requirements, including major equipment acquisitions such as the F-35 and two future aircraft carriers.

Lockheed Martin, dogged by a whistleblower lawsuit charging the company built lousy and possibly dangerous software for the F-35, is breathing a little easier this afternoon as a judge dismissed the suit. According to my colleague Bob Fox at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (the F-35’s home town paper), U.S. District Court Judge Terry Means recently threw out the 2006 suit filed by Sylvester Davis, a former software engineer on the program. “Davis, Means said in the ruling, ‘fails to allege the dates of any false claim or any information regarding the documents Lockheed submitted to the government for payment,” according...

Israel's purchase of 20 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters, the world's most advanced combat jets, significantly enhances the Jewish state's ability to defend itself "by itself," in the words of U.N. Ambassador Michael Oren. His comment following Thursday's contract signing in New York, is a clear reference to possible conflict with Iran, against whose nuclear installations Israel has threatened to launch pre-emptive strikes. However, Israel is unlikely to take delivery of the first of the fifth- generation fighters until 2015 at the earliest, with completion scheduled for 2017. That should rule the F-35s out of any long-range mission against Iran...

The Netherlands' new coalition government is expected to maintain the nation's commitment to the test phase of Lockheed Martin's F-35 programme, although a decision on whether the type will replace its Lockheed F-16s will not be made for several more years. A conceptual agreement made by the right-wing VVD and PVV parties and the Christian Democrats to form a new cabinet includes plans to buy a second F-35 test aircraft in 2011 and to fully participate in the Joint Strike Fighter's operational test and evaluation. A ruling on further Dutch participation in the F-35 programme had been put on hold...

Following the Israeli Government decision to select the Lockheed Martin ] F-35 Lightning II as the Israel Air Force’s next-generation fighter aircraft, Israeli Ministry of Defense Director General (Maj. Gen. Ret.) Udi Shani signed the Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the procurement of the F-35 aircraft earlier today in New York. Israel will be the first country to receive the F-35 through the United States government’s Foreign Military Sales process. “We’re very pleased with the Government of Israel’s decision to move forward with the U.S. government’s Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the F-35,” said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin...

Flight testing of F-35 jets has resumed after a one-week grounding to fix a potentially hazardous software glitch. One of the two F-35A models, like those that will be built for the Air Force and most foreign customers, flew late Tuesday at Edwards Air Force Base in California and was scheduled to fly again late Wednesday. New software had to be installed in all six of the aircraft in flight testing and two others that have been flown but are undergoing follow-up service work. Flying was stopped after ground testing found that software controlling fuel pumps could shut down the...

Marines Ready, But Is JSF? Oct 1, 2010 By Bill Sweetman Washington Delays in vertical landing tests with the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) version of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter are driving a reassessment of the U.S. Marine Corps’ plans for the jet’s service entry. The Marines insist they will achieve initial operational capability (IOC), with eight ship-qualified aircraft and 20 pilots, by late 2012. That is only six months later than the IOC date set in 2006, but the Air Force and Navy have delayed their IOC dates by three years (until early 2016) because of late aircraft deliveries and...

The 5th generation F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter will serve as the centrepiece for 21st century global security while strengthening international political and industrial partnerships, a senior Lockheed Martin F-35 executive said Monday at the Farnborough Air Show. "As we continue to define what a next generation multirole fighter is and bring to the world a profound increase in capability over the best existing fighters, I’m most proud that we’re able to do it affordably—at about the price of fourth generation aircraft," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 Program Integration. "The program continues...

BAE Systems is starting to reconfigure its F-35 aft fuselage assembly line to speed up production, the company said Monday. The company, in a news release from the Farnborough Air Show, said first steps in the redesign project took place recently at its Samlesbury site in the United Kingdom, where the F-35's aft fuselage is built. A team from across BAE Systems' Military Air Solutions business stripped one of the six work stations to its bare floor and walls to examine the approach and techniques needed to achieve a production rate increase. Every stage of the manufacturing process – from...

Changes are being made to the integrated power package (IPP) on the Marine’s F-35 that should limit heat damage to carrier decks and other surfaces, Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation, told DoD Buzz in an exclusive interview one day before the start of the Farnborough Air Show. In addition, the heat buildup from the STOVL drive shaft will be addressed in LRIP 4, although negotiations on that are still underway so costs for that are not set yet. “We have made the decision to adjust the IPP,” he said Sunday, reshaping the nozzle so that the enormous...

Development of the next generation of warplane is already over budget and behind schedule. Hidden in a hangar at the US Navy's Patuxent River Air Base, in Maryland, away from prying eyes and shaded from the intense sun, US and British ground crew made the final preparations before the plane took to the clear blue skies. RAF and Royal Navy personnel are already working alongside American crews as they conduct the final trials before it goes into production. There's nothing particularly unusual about the Lockheed Martin JSF's appearance. It looks like a modern jet fighter. It's what you can't see...

Ottawa's plan to buy 65 U.S.-built F-35 fighter planes is expected to benefit nearly 100 Canadian companies and support thousands of technology jobs. Nine countries, including Canada, funded development of the plane, called the Lightning II, or the Joint Strike Fighter. Toronto-based Magellan Aerospace said Friday that Canada's participation in the aircraft's development has provided a series of "crucial stepping stones to securing greater roles in the current production and upcoming support phases." The Toronto-based company designs and makes engines and structural parts. "This application of new technologies and precision manufacturing processes will transform Magellan Aerospace and other Canadian companies,...

Extending development by three years on two F-35 variants would not be enough to keep the restructured programme on track. But Lockheed Martin's flight-test programme gained significant new resources to reduce the risk of further delays in the overall restructuring announced on 1 February. Namely, the US Department of Defense will buy another flight-test aircraft in the fourth lot of low-rate initial production (LRIP). The US Marine Corps and US Navy also would "loan" three operational aircraft to Lockheed to participate in the flight-test programme. Doug Pearson, Lockheed vice-president for the F-35's integrated test force, explains how the new resources...

The Canadian government formally committed today to buy 65 Lockheed Martin F-35s six years ahead of first delivery in order to qualify national industry to bid for more work in the multi-national programme. Since the first aircraft will arrive in 2016, the commitment by Ottawa does not need to be sealed by a contract until at least 2013. By then, Lockheed expects the F-35 to be approaching peak production rates, with one aircraft delivered every working day. Canadian officials have valued the cost of the acquisition at C$9 billion ($8.5 billion), or about C$138 million per aircraft, including engines, weapons...

The Canadian government is expected to announce on Friday that it will buy 65 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin. The announcement of a multibillion-dollar commitment by a foreign government would be a big boost for the jet program, which has been plagued with delays and substantial price increases. It is also being made without bids from other manufacturers. But long before any announcement was imminent, the purchase became politically controversial in Canada. On Thursday, the Liberal Party said that it would oppose the purchase. An alliance of opposition parties could stall or block the deal. “I’m not suggesting that...

A spot-on rotation after an 8s take-off roll should have excited - or at least relaxed - the high-ranking programme officials lining the runway at the US Navy's Patuxent River NAS in Maryland on 17 March. BAE Systems test pilot Graham Tomlinson had just proved that the Lockheed Martin F-35B can indeed take off from amphibious carriers and small runways. Checking-off the test point also would clear the way for Lockheed to stage the F-35B's first vertical landing the next day. Coming six weeks after a major restructuring caused by a $100 billion increase in cost projections, the F-35 Joint...

The second great engine war, in which we are currently embroiled, offers many components of a fabulous story: national security, jet fighters, three great and combative companies, politicians and congressional experts and lobbyists and lots of cash. (So far we don’t have any sex, but a reporter can only hope.) Into that mix boldly strides a former F-16 pilot who just can’t keep his mouth shut while the second engine for the Joint Strike fighter’s fate is still uncertain. Read Robert Newton’s commentary on why he thinks the F-136 is a must have. Single engine fighter pilots have a special...