Lockheed F-35’s Tally of Flaws Tops 800 as ‘New Issues’ Surface
- Hardware, software flaws keep surfacing: testing chief
- Lockheed also has been late delivering 158 jets this year: GAO
This article is for subscribers only.
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet remains marred by more than 800 unresolved software and hardware deficiencies of varying severity that could undercut readiness, missions or maintenance, according to updated statistics released Tuesday by the Pentagon’s testing office and Congress’s watchdog agency.
The number of “open deficiencies,” which include eight in the most serious Category 1, hasn’t improved significantly since the fighter’s development and demonstration phase ended in April 2018 “because testing continues to discover new issues,” Raymond O’Toole Jr., the acting head of the testing office, said in a statement to a House Armed Services subcommittee.