By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, February 10, 2016 — The F-35 Lightning II joint
strike fighter program is moving forward while addressing various challenges,
the program's executive officer said today.
"In the big picture, I would tell you that the program
right now is accelerating, growing and changing," Air Force Lt. Gen.
Christopher C. Bogdan said at a media roundtable in Arlington, Virginia.
He detailed a number of challenges in the program, including
incorporating fixes to address the current flight restrictions on lightweight
pilots.
"The mark of a good program is you find the problems,
you solve the problems and you keep the program moving forward without
derailing it," he said.
The development program, he said, is scheduled to be
completed in the fall of 2017.
"What we're trying to do right now is work toward that
very large $50-plus-billion contract and turn that into a modernization
program," he said, adding that the program will have to be more efficient
than has been the case in the last 15 or more years.
Addressing Issues, Moving Forward
The program currently has 419 deficiencies to be corrected,
Bogdan said, explaining that the figure is "not that many." Despite
the challenges, he added, the program is advancing.
"We are making progress,” the general said. “Sometimes
it's not as fast as we want. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes we have setbacks.”
The problems include issues with software, hardware, and the
Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS. He noted that 700 to 800
deficiencies already have been addressed.
Possible Dangers for Lightweight Pilots
Due to a possible risk of neck injury should ejection be
necessary, lightweight pilots are restricted from flying the F-35s. For a pilot
weighing between 103 and 136 pounds, Bogdan said, the odds of that person
having to eject and then being injured in the ejection are one in 50,000.
The changes being implemented include a
"heavy/light" weight switch, the general said. When in the
"light" position, the seat would delay the parachute's extraction by
milliseconds if the pilot had to eject, so the shock and stress on the neck
would be reduced, he explained.
A restraining device also was sewn into the risers behind
the parachute so that if a lightweight pilot were to eject at a "weird
angle" it would stop the pilot's head from going backward, he added.
The head restraint and the seat switch have been tested, and
they work, he said, adding that those fixes are ready to go into the field and
in production by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Bogdan said, the helmet's weight has to be
reduced from 5.1 pounds to between 4.6 and 4.8 pounds. That change is lagging
behind the other fixes by at least eight or nine months.
"I don't like that," he added, noting that all
three solutions must be in place before the restriction on lightweight pilots
can be lifted.
Air Force Deferring Orders
Bogdan said the Air Force's announcement yesterday that it
intends to buy 43, rather than 48, F-35s in fiscal year 2017 is "almost a
non-news event." The Air Force is deferring purchases, not cutting
airplanes, he explained.
The Navy kept its fiscal 2017 “C” models of the jet at four,
and the Marine Corps went from 14 to 16 airplanes for the “B” model, he said,
noting that amounts to a net loss of three airplanes for the U.S. services.
The program plans to deliver more than 870 airplanes over
the next six years, Bogdan said, adding that one can "barely measure"
the reduction from the Air Force in that timeframe, he said.
The general said he is looking at the program
"holistically," taking into account international partners as well as
possible future customers.
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