Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has lifted lightning restrictions for the most widely used version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, allowing the Lockheed Martin jet to fly in thunderstorms for the first time since 2020, Breaking Defense has learned. The Defense Department formally lifted the restrictions on March 19 after devising a hardware and software fix for the lightning protection system used aboard the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, JPO spokesman Russ Goemaere said in response to a press inquiry. The F-35A had been prohibited from flying within 25 miles of lightning since June 2020, when damaged tubes were...

A key F-35 safety system is sustaining damage in Air Force service, forcing the office that overseas the F-35 program to recommend flight restrictions. Under the new guidelines, F-35 jets should socially distance from lightning, maintaining a distance of least 25 miles. The faulty systems could cause a F-35 hit by lightning to literally explode in midair. ================================================================================================= The F-35 Lightning II strike fighter is temporarily barred from flying near actual lightning. More than a dozen Air Force F-35s were discovered with damage to a system designed to prevent catastrophic damage from lightning strikes. The damaged systems place the aircraft...