Thread: Pentagon Grounds JSF Fleet After Turbine Blade Cracks; Potential Catastrophic Failure

Pentagon Grounds JSF Fleet After Turbine Blade Cracks; 'Potential Exists For Catastrophic Failure'

By Colin Clark
Published: February 22, 2013



UPDATED: Adds NAVAIR Letter And JSF JPO, Lockheed Statements

AFA Winter, Orlando: What happens when all the top brass of the Air Force are attending a top conference on a Friday afternoon? Their biggest program, the Joint Strike Fighter, gets its entire fleet grounded because of a crack in a turbine blade. Details began trickling out just as most Air Force brass were headed to the airport after the Air Force Association's annual conference here ended.

Of course, the F-35 isn't just the Air Force's biggest program. It's the biggest conventional weapons program ever for any country.

Early word is that a low pressure turbine in the engine cracked. The engine is on its way to Pratt & Whitney for a complete check to figure out what happened, why and come up with a fix. We've sent emails and called the program office and Lockheed for comment. As soon as it comes in, we'll update this.

The crack poses "the threat of catastrophic failure," according to a letter by Naval Air Systems Commander Vice Adm. David Dunaway sent to the Navy Secretary, Chief of Naval Operations and the Marine Commandant. Dunaway says he will provide an update on the situation no later than March 1, next Friday.

This is not the first grounding of the fleet. The F-35Bs were briefly grounded last month when an improperly crimped hydraulic hose was found in the engine.

Here's the F-35 Joint Program Office's statement on the latest problem:

"On Feb 19, 2013, a routine engine inspection revealed a crack on a low pressure turbine blade of an F135 engine installed in a CTOL test aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Engineering teams are shipping the turbine blade to Pratt & Whitney's Engine Facility in Middletown, CT, to conduct more thorough evaluation and root cause analysis."

They say it's,"too early to know the fleet-wide impact of this finding, however as a precautionary measure, all F-35 flight operations have been suspended until the investigation is complete and the cause of the blade crack is fully understood. The F-35 Joint Program Office is working closely with Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin at all F-35 locations to ensure the integrity of the engine, and to return the fleet safely to flight as soon as possible."

Lockheed didn't say much else, beyond averring that "safety is always our first consideration" and committing themselves to working hard to understand and fix the problem "so the F-35s can safely return to flight as soon as possible."

This will cost money, of course. The question is, how bad is the problem and is it systemic or a unique problem in this engine. That sound you hear is the grinding of teeth in Lockheed's headquarter suite.

Updated at 3:45 p.m. Friday and again at 4:05 p.m.

Pentagon Grounds JSF Fleet After Turbine Blade Cracks; 'Potential Exists For Catastrophic Failure'

http://www.alipac.us/f19/troubles-mo...y-rema-265642/

http://www.alipac.us/f19/china-makes...4/#post1329967

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Concerns Linger Over F-35 Software Delays

by Brendan McGarry on April 24, 2013

Top U.S. Defense Department officials say they’re concerned the slow pace of software development may delay the delivery of the most lethal version of the F-35 fighter jet beyond 2017.
The program manager, Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, told lawmakers today the issue was his top priority.

“My biggest concern in development is software,” Bogdan said in remarks prepared for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “I see more risk to the delivery of Block 3F, our full warfighting capability, by 2017.”

That model of the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made aircraft is designed to be equipped with a suite of internal and external weapons, including the GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, laser-guided Paveway II bomb, Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile and infrared Sidewinder missile.

The program office will have a better estimate of the planned delivery date this summer after reviewing at least six months of flight testing data, Bogdan said.

The Joint Strike Fighter is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons acquisition program, estimated to cost almost $400 billion for a total of 2,457 aircraft, according to a 2011 defense acquisition report. It’s designed to replace such aircraft as the F-16, A-10, F/A-18 and AV-8B.

The department next year plans to spend $8.4 billion to buy 29 F-35 Lightning IIs, including 19 for the Air Force, six for the Marine Corps and four for the Navy, according to its budget request released earlier this month.

The concerns over software remain despite making a “major shift” in oversight the past year, Bogdan said. That change has resulted in faster software development and integration, reduced coding errors and better collaboration between the program office and Lockheed, he said.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based company and its subcontractors “still need to improve both the speed and quality of software development to be able to catch up from previous software delays,” Bogdan said.

The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer, Frank Kendall, echoed those comments during a separate briefing with reporters to announce an updated effort to improve how the department buys goods and services. “We still got a fair amount of software to write,” he said. “There are some risks there.”

The military is about 40 percent through the F-35 test program, Kendall said.

In addition to software, “there are still a few other issues we haven’t quite put to bed yet, but I’m feeling cautiously optimistic,” he said without elaborating. “I won’t say there won’t be any additional schedule slips.”

The department is working to reduce program expenses by negotiating better terms on production contracts, Kendall said. “I want to keep the pressure on to drive it down as much as we can,” he said.

Kendall described sustaining the aircraft as “our biggest opportunity” to find long-term savings. The cost of keeping the F-35 in service for 50 years is estimated at more than $1 trillion and the Pentagon plans to hold competitions for the work.

“We can achieve the greatest results there,” he said.

http://defensetech.org/2013/04/24/co...ftware-delays/