US grounds F-35 fighter jets over cracked engine blade

[unhappycamper]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/23/us-f35-grounded-cracked-engine-blade



The US has grounded its fleet of $243 million dollar F-35 fighter jets.

US grounds F-35 fighter jets over cracked engine blade
Associated Press in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 February 2013 09.00 EST

The Pentagon has grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets, after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane.

The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, California, of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18.

All versions a total of 51 planes were grounded Friday pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.

In a brief written statement Friday, the Pentagon said it was too early to know the full impact of the newly discovered problem. A watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, said the grounding was not likely to mean a significant delay in the effort to field the aircraft.

[vt_native]

1. This thing is a piece of crap.

Just kill the whole program, please!

[unhappycamper]

2. We're seven years into building this expensive POS.

Seven fucking years.