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F-35 Full-Rate Production Delayed Once Again

The Pentagon will need to put off moving the F-35 program to full-rate production due to another delay in starting critical simulations tests.

Top weapons buyer for the Defense Department, Ellen Lord, cannot clear the F-35 for full-rate production, also called Milestone C, until the jet goes through a series of tests in the Joint Simulation Environment (JSE).

An F-35A flies over Utah (Photo Courtesy U.S. Air Force)

The testing and $398 billion production program have been postponed from December 2020 to sometime in 2021 due to difficulties finishing technical preparations, according Lord's spokesperson, Jessica Maxwell.

Tests at JSE simulate a range of high-threat scenarios that can't be replicated in live flight tests. Had testing begun in December, it would have taken an addition two to three months to analyze the data and draft a final report to the Pentagon by March 2021.

Now, with both testing and production delayed, the team is "preparing an updated project schedule based on measured progress to date,” Maxwell said.

This is one in a series of testing delays the F-35 has encountered since 2017.

“The program has struggled to develop the complex software and functionality needed to complete” the one-month JSE combat test, the Government Accountability Office said in its annual program report in April.

The previous delay came at the end of last year when Pentagon had intended to make a full-rate production decision. The JSE faced delays in its development because of a software development model, known as Continuous Capability Development and Delivery (C2D2), forcing the Defense Department to defer full-rate production by 13 months.

Robert Behler, the Pentagon’s independent weapons tester, called the C2D2 schedule “high risk” back in February, and said the program office was struggling to stay on schedule in an annual report published Jan. 30 by the Operational Test and Evaluation Office.

A full-rate production decision would be a seal of approval from the Defense Department to U.S. taxpayers and foreign customers that the fighter jet has been fully tested, deemed effective against the highest-level threats, can meet its maintenance goals and can be produced efficiently.

It would also note a go-ahead for aircraft parts manufacturers and contractors to start production of F-35 aircraft parts. The aircraft already ah an extensive support network, including Florida-based AeroBase Group and the popular e-commerce distributor DODparts.com. 

Companies adjusting for this new timeline may take the time explore up-and-coming distributors like NSNequipment.com as options for their F-35 production support needs.

While the timeline has been extended, moving into 2021 should be a year a growth for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

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