Moody’s should label this “Junk” – Pentagon’s most expensive fighter ever won’t even be able to carry the most advanced weapons because of design flaw

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Pentagon’s most expensive fighter ever won’t even be able to carry the most advanced weapons because of design flaw

Fighter jet F-35B’s internal weapons bay is too small for a Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) load
Though it’s mandated that an F-35B hold eight SDB IIs in the bay, only four can reportedly fit
A F-35 program spokesman has said changes are being made so the fighter jet can be released on schedule
The SDB II can employ a number of techniques – including imaging infrared, laser, and radar homing – to hit targets
The F-35 program will cost an estimated $590billion over the next decade
F-35B is slated to be used by the British Royal Navy on the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier
By ZOE SZATHMARY FOR MAILONLINE

A design flaw has left a fighter jet that’s part of the Pentagon’s most expensive project ever incapable of carrying the military’s most highly advanced bombs.
The F-35B’s internal weapons bay is too small for a Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) load, according to an Inside Defense report.
Though it’s mandated that an F-35B jet, designed by Lockheed Martin, hold eight SDB IIs in the bay, only four reportedly fit.
The F-35 program will reportedly cost a whopping $590 billion over the next decade.

The F-35B is one of three variants of the F-35 program – and it’s proved the most expensive and most troublesome to get off the ground. The F-35B features a lift fan that will allow it to make short takeoffs and vertical landings – like a helicopter.
In the US, it will be used by the Marine Corps. However, the F-35B is the centerpiece of the British Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier-based fleet. The Ministry of Defense has ordered 48 of the aircraft and they are the only fighter jets set to launch off two planned British aircraft carriers – the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the HMS Prince of Wales.
The F-35 in general – and the F-35B in particular – has been plagued by massive cost overruns and delays.
Joe DellaVedova, a spokesman for the F-35 program, said in an Inside Defense interview last week that changes are being made to the jet so it can be released on schedule.
DellaVedova also said that Lockheed Martin will likely get the alterations contract down the line in 2015.
‘This is not a new issue to us,’ DellaVedova told Inside Defense. ‘We’ve been working with the SDB II program office and their contractors since 2007.
‘The fit issues have been known and documented and there were larger and more substantial modifications needed to support SDB II that have already been incorporated into production F-35 aircraft.
‘These minor or remaining changes were put on hold until the aircraft reached a sufficient level of maturity to ensure that the needed changes would not adversely impact any ongoing SDB [II] developments.’
Inside Defense reported that the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program office so far has not publicly recognized problems – and that eight internal and 16 external SDB IIs are in fact meant to go on the F-35B….More Here

 

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