Uncorrected Design Flaws Plague the F-35 Program

The latest testing report on the F-35 shows there hasn’t been appreciable improvement in the program’s overall reliability since 2016

As the F-35 program limps toward the end of its much-delayed operational testing period and subsequent full-rate production decision, unanswered questions about its combat effectiveness and suitability for service within the fleet remain. The Pentagon weapons testing office’s 2019 annual report, released earlier this year, paints a picture of an incompletely designed and vulnerable aircraft that may never be able to perform many of its intended functions.

In addition to the requirements that have not been, and possibly will not be met, the program is still plagued by hundreds of unresolved design flaws. The Pentagon calls these design flaws “deficiencies,” and as of the release of the annual testing report, the F-35 program had 873.

DAN GRAZIER for pogo.org