Lockheed says it’s fixed key F-35B issue - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Lockheed says it’s fixed key F-35B issue

F-35B maker Lockheed Martin says it has a solution to at least one of the problems that has put the vertical-takeoff variant of the Joint Strike Fighter on a fix-it-or-die deadline.

The company said Monday that it has finished redesigning an aluminum bulkhead located where the aircraft’s main landing gear attaches to the airframe.

Cracks had been found in the bulkhead after ground tests.

“A redesign of the bulkhead is completed and an implementation plan has been developed. No cracking was found in any of the flight test aircraft, and flight testing has not been affected. Other locations of similar design are also being assessed,” company spokesman John Kent said in an e-mailed statement.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Jan. 6 that the F-35B was “experiencing significant testing problems,” and that the program had two years to “get it right” or face cancellation.

“These issues may lead to a redesign of the aircraft’s structure and propulsion, changes that could add yet more weight and more cost to an aircraft that has little capacity to absorb more of either,” he said.